Things heat up for Detective Charlie Northern both on and off the case, as he grows close to unraveling the mysterious death of the man in line to be the next pope, and even closer to Vatican lawyer Lucille Pelliccia. A series of revelatory clues may seem like good fortune for Northern, but it only serves to increase the desperation of his shadowy suspects. They decide to send Northern a message-one that takes the stakes of his hunt to a deadly new level.