Private investigator Nudger is hired by an eccentric attorney to learn about the client he is defending on a murder charge. The defendant's wife has disappeared. The police and prosecution say she is dead and that her wealthy-banker husband killed her and concealed the body. But despite overwhelming evidence of his guilt, the husband seems unconcerned, even though his almost certain conviction will result in his execution. The defendant's sister knows something about what happened. So does the prizewinning poet and sensuous next-door neighbor. Then there's the embittered sister-in-law, and further complicating matters is a mysterious woman who buys and sells antiques. Just to make matters worse, a huge man with bourbon on his breath unmistakably means Nudger harm. What Nudger learns pulls him ever deeper into a tangle of deception, sex, and family secrets that intertwine to create a unique and startling plot twist - a surprising kind of justice.