When the Reverend Jordan arrives at the village church, he discovers the partially clothed body of Jessica Dobell, the church cleaner, spreadeagled below the cross. A satanic cult is thought to be behind the gruesome death, but Wycliffe believes responsibility lies elsewhere. There is an air of violent hatred in the village, not all of it directed towards the dead woman.

Père Jordan se souviendra de ce dimanche : en arrivant à l'église du village, après sa promenade habituelle, il retrouve le cadavre de Jessica Dobell, la femme de ménage, qu'il connaît depuis longtemps