A nun is found murdered on the steps of the Quality Couch, Sydney's classiest brothel. Sister Mary Magdalene was an idealistic young woman who had previously worked at a mission in Nicaragua. Detective Inspector Scobie Malone is suspicious when he finds that her real name is Teresa Hourigan - granddaughter of Fingal Hourigan, one of Sydney's most powerful businessmen, who is currently entertaining some influential Contras at his palatial home. The trail leads to a secret the old man has kept since 1929: the reason he left Chicago for Australia in a hurry and in fear of his life. It threatens his absurd ambition to see his son, Archbishop Kerry Hourigan, become the first Australian Pope. But Kerry's violent anti-Communism has already lead to fatal endangerment of his standing at Rome.