George Stobbart left Nico behind for a year to handle urgent business in the United States—during which his grandfather died. While abroad he receives a telegram claiming Nico has been killed. He rushes back to France to find her alive, apparently unsurprised by the false report and in no mood to see him. Sitting alone at Café de la Chandelle Verte trying to make sense of it, George gets an urgent warning from Inspector André Lobineau about Nico's safety. The Neo-Templar threat, thought finished, may not be.