Private detective Peter Clancy and his faithful valet Wiggar return to Berkeley to investigate the murder of an interior decorator and a missing Van Gogh painting.

Father Joseph Bredder of Los Angeles investigates a long-missing diamond that, according to legend, had been given to St. Thomas the Apostle during his mission to India in the 1st century and put at the foot of a statue of the Virgin. The subsequent murder of a wealthy TV producer provides a link between ancient India and modern Hollywood.

A retelling of a traditional Catalan tale in which a poor charcoal makers's cleverness wins him an unexpected fortune.

"Tells the story of the birth and childhood of Jesus in pictures and antiphons in Latin with Gregorian chants." --