Struggling to make a success of his detective agency, Skeen finds himself the target of an ambitious local assistant district attorney after an inquest has been held surrounding the death of a criminal. Skeen had tried to subdue and have him arrested; but the criminal resisted and chose to fight, resulting in the criminal's death. Skeen may be charged with manslaughter. The inquest is ended, over the medical examiner's objections, with the assistant district attorney attempting to charge Skeen with manslaughter and demanding that he be arraigned on the charge. It is early February 1927. This is the twenty-seventh Cyrus Skeen detective novel. Skeen reflects on a case from earlier in his detective career, shortly after he had set up shop in San Francisco as a private detective.