Ginger Barnes is prepared for almost anything when she volunteers to shepard Bryn Derwyn Academy's most infamous student into Philadelphia for a "sacred straight" session with a Federal judge. But she didn't expect to discover her childhood babysitter, Professor Charlie Finnemeyer, on trial for artificially aged oriental rug--or to learn that the expert witnesses against him were mysteriously dying off left and right. Even worse, her investigation soon turns up a galley of suspects with scandalous secrets to hide--and far too much to lose.

With time running out, Gin must face off against an ambitious TV celebrity craftsperson; the formidable head of one of Philadelphia's most prestigious universities; a hip art dealer; and Charlies suspiciously overprotective wife, whose skill at being in the wrong place at the wrong time isn't helping her husband's case. Now it will take all of Gin's savvy to gather this case's slender threads in hand if she is to trap one exceptionally crafty, ruthless killer.