When Hugh Lupus, Earl of Chester, leads a hunting party into the Forest of Delamere his prized hawk is killed by an arrow. Two poachers are discovered hiding in the forest, and the Earl demands that they be imprisoned, but unanswered questions linger. Meanwhile, Ralph Delchard and Gervase Bret, Domesday commissioners for the King, are guests of the Earl while they settle a land dispute in nearby Winchester. Exploring their new surroundings, they uncover...