The year is 1690, and the place is Nagasaki - a city where superstition, politics, and greed reign supreme. It is here that the mutilated body of Jan Spaen, a prominent Dutch trader and one of the few Westerners in Japan, washes ashore. With few leads and too many enemies, Sano Ichiro finds himself in the midst of a dangerous search for an elusive killer. With every clue, the investigation pulls him further into a tangled web of deception and samurai lore. Nothing is as it seems, and no one can be trusted. Racing against the clock, Sano must find the murderer, for at stake is not only his noble warrior status, but his very life.