The unfinished chess game in the painting of the Flemish artist and the mysterious inscription found on it under a layer of paint become the key in the investigation of the brutal murders that occur today. Each of the heroes of the novel turns into a chess piece that participates in the devilish game unfolded around .. And the silent drama reflected in the picture gets a strange continuation after several centuries. Painting and mathematics, logic and history are put in the novel at the service of an accurate, perfectly worked out plot from the world of collectors and antiques. The action takes the heroes to the past and makes them discover that time has no power over human passions. And, unlike chess, in reality "nothing is only black or white": good easily turns to evil, and sacrifice to the executioner