1540: Herbalist Verena von Pfäffikon is to be burned as a witch. But before she dies at the stake, the village burns down and Verena manages to escape.
Three arduous weeks later, disguised as a man and now calling herself Johann, she arrives in Padua. In the wake of a group of students, she arrives at the anatomical theatre and witnesses the famous anatomist Andreas Vesal performing an autopsy. But during the demonstration, Vesal is called outside to a dying student. Like the doctor, Verena immediately realises that the young man has been poisoned.
Together they perform an autopsy on the body and find their suspicions confirmed. But who would poison a student? And why?