A fire at the Cathedral of Turin and the discovery of a strangely mutilated body attract the attention of Italy's special Art Crimes Department. For the fire is only the latest in a troubling series of arsons and break-ins at the cathedral,which houses what millions believe to be the authentic burial shroud of Jesus Christ.

A cop as well as an art historian,department chief Marco Valoni leads a crack team of investigators in a race to solve a crime he's certain is about to shock the world. Someone is planning to steal the Holy Shroud, and Valoni's only suspect--a mystery man who bears the same scars as the unidentified corpse--is currently serving out a sentence in a Turin prison.

...

A man, his face concealed by a hood, watched the suffering of the knights from the shadows, these knights who had once wielded their swords and risked their very lives to defend the Cross. Reveling in t heir torment, sick with avarice and cruelty, Philippe sigraaled the torturers to go on Broken and bloodied, Jacqu,es de Molay could hardly see, but he sensed who it was be~neath the hood. A smile came to the Grand Master's lips when the king demanded that he confess where he had hidden the holy shroud of Jesus.

At last Philippe saw that it was futile to continue. De Molay would not yield. All that was left was public execution, so that the world might k now that the Temple had been exterminated for all eternity...

Fire began to burn the Templars' ravaged flesh. Jacques de Molay's eyes remained fixed on Philippe, and before him and the people ot Paris the Grand Master proclaimed his innocence and called down divirJe justice on the king of France and Pope Clement, summoning them to stand with him before the judgment of God within the year.

A shiver ran down Philippe's spine as de Molay's words rang out. No, God could not be on the side of these Templars, these heretics. He, Philippe, king of France, was obeying the laws of the Church.

But was he obeying the laws of God?