It's 1978, the year of three popes and Cardinal Joshua Argus has his eye on becoming the next Pope at any cost. To achieve his goal, he must do two things: make sure there is a vacancy for the position and clean up his past to avoid a scandalous ascension to the papacy.

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Standing in his way is a young homicide detective named Kathryn Krol who is the first woman to be promoted to the Syracuse Police Department Detective Squad. As she begins her new job with a skeptical new partner, she just wants to focus on being the best detective she can be while trying to win the respect of her fellow all male detective squad.

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But Kathryn will quickly be put to the test when she and her partner, Angelo Marcello, begin to investigate a series of ritual murders being perpetrated in Syracuse, New York. As their investigation continues, they eventually uncover the sinister plot of the cardinal who wants to be pope. Unfortunately, by the time they make the connection between the murders and Cardinal Argus, they find that the cardinal is now safely at the Vatican in Rome.

As they try to regroup, they are left wondering if they could still be able to stop him before he commits the ultimate murder from inside the Vatican.