On the way to pick up her orphaned nephew Alvin at the world-renowned Uptown Children's Chorus, Mali hears the screams of a terrified child. As she and her Great Dane, Ruffin, race to the rescue, a car speeds away, leaving a young boy dazed on the sidewalk and a man lying in the street with a bullet hole in his forehead. The victim is her friend, Erskin Harding, tour director of the Chorus and a man without an enemy in the world. Could he have been the target, or was he an innocent bystander gunned down as he tried to prevent the kidnapping of young Morris Johnson? Though Mali has good reason to be suspicious of the police, there's one cop she's ready to trust: Tad Honeywell, smart, suave, and handsome. But as she follows her leads, each seems to lead only to more mayhem.