It's December and Father Brown, Mrs McCarthy and Bunty are visited by an old friend as they make mince pies and decorate the presbytery. Sid, has returned for Christmas, bearing gifts from Lady Felicia. Meanwhile as locals walk through the woods, a dog uncovers a partially skeletonised hand in the cold ground. The body is identified as Scarlett Dreyfuss, a woman reported missing after the dress rehearsal of Red Riding Hood in 1946, throwing open a seven year old case. But that doesn't stop the Kembleford Amateur Dramatics Society from holding their auditions for this year's pantomime, Cinderella. Mrs McCarthy is left disappointed when Bunty is given the role of Fairy Godmother over her, while Father Brown and Sid are left with rather undignified parts. When Scarlett's post mortem is delivered, Inspector Mallory realises that the confession of her supposed killer, gentle giant Benny, is a pack of lies. A terrible miscarriage of justice has taken place - can Father Brown overturn it in time for Christmas?
