 A man calls Harry Orwell while Harry is asleep, but when the half-awake Harry answers, there is nothing, so Harry hangs up. The next day Harry learns that Frank McDonald, an old friend from his days with the San Diego PD, has been found dead. The death is ruled a suicide but Harry is skeptical, and after learning that McDonald was the man who called him that night, Harry begins backtracking those who most recently knew McDonald. He meets a woman McDonald knew from attending AA meetings, a woman who was married to wealthy businessman Walter Nesbitt. Harry then begins piecing together information on a murder case McDonald was involved in years earlier involving the death of Walter Nesbitt s secretary, Angela Thomas. Several attempts on the lives of Harry, Nesbitt s estranged son-in-law, and Nesbitt s mentally disturbed son lead Harry and Lt. Trench back to the man convicted of Angela Thomas  murder, a man named Bill Henderson, a violent man who was recently paroled but who Harry learns was not the real killer.