Two men accused of destroying silk looms in an act of industrial sabotage cower in the dock; their defence is perilously thin. Garrow must persuade a sceptical jury of their innocence. Love and loyalty compete with fear and betrayal in the brutal surroundings of the 18th-century Bailey.

A vicious riot erupts on polling day in the Westminster constituency. As the crowd parts, an old man lies on the ground, brutally clubbed to death. Garrow, alone and grieving, gets pulled into a complex web of conspiracy and cover-up, of political double-dealing and the abuse of power.