Wendell Merrick is killed in the church on the day he was to marry Eunice McGinty. At first glance, the murder appears to be a robbery gone wrong. But Father Franks recalls hearing Wendell arguing with his best man, Lawrence Braxton, before the wedding. As suspicion turns to Braxton, the investigation takes an unexpected twist when the pathology report turns up evidence that Wendell was homosexual – which leads Brackenreid to conclude that it was Wendell’s lover who wielded the weapon that killed him. But while fingers are being pointed at possible candidates, including Braxton, Murdoch starts to believe that the issue of Wendell’s sexuality has thrown this investigation way off track.