A man hires a nurse to care for his ailing but nasty and shrewish sister. What he really intends to do, however, is to convince the nurse to join him in a plot to kill her.

Edinburgh, 1831. Among those who undertake the illegal trade of grave robbery is Gray, ostensibly a cab driver. Formerly a medical student convicted of grave robbery, Gray holds a grudge against Dr. MacFarlane who had escaped detection and punishment.