Diminutive investigator Sean NMI Sean has a rare quiet evening at home. The peacefulness of a summer evening in Roseville is interrupted by a call from a man whom Sean does not particularly like. Salvatore Belassario invites Sean to the scene of a house fire in Saint Paul and thus begins Sean's reluctant search amid the hot ruins of a fire, an eight-year-old robbery and murder and the intrusion of a traveling band of thieves who stop at little to achieve their nefarious goals. In this fourth tale following the adventures of the urban detective, Sean slips into conflict in a case with almost every element he tries to avoid. There are rumblings of organized crime involvement, the Federal Government is looking at aspects of the case, domestic partners are at odds and the love of his life, Catherine Mckerney, becomes a target.