Nancy thought of Philip on her walk back to the Portsons' house. Everyone refers to him as a good boy even though he's 25 years old. He couldn't drive, and he lived out here in the country. His time was spent working in a store, taking care of an elderly couple, painting pictures, and fishing in a river. All this young man wanted in his life was a dog. How did his fingerprints and his DNA wind up in a city alley near a dead woman?

When the husband of a murdered woman asks Nancy, the editor of a newspaper, to write the true story of his wife's tragic death, Nancy is only too eager to accept. Since her newspaper is involved in a labor dispute, she is without work and could use the money.

As she begins to investigate, Nancy soon finds that nothing is as it seems. The man convicted for the murder, Philip Securd, claims he's innocent, and the various people Nancy interviews all have conflicting stories.

The deeper Nancy digs, the more she realizes something is terribly wrong. Even worse-someone doesn't want her to find out the truth.