Sergeant Andrew Clock of Homicide is an honest policeman, but now there's a very grave charge against him: concealing evidence in a murder investigation in return for a bribe. The evidence seems damning, but Clock's friends, including Jesse Falkenstein, cannot believe it of him.

Falkenstein sets out to prove Clock's innocence, and is quickly entrenched in a battle between Clock's allies and his superior officers. The only other explanation is a set-up, but who has enough of a grudge against the sergeant to destroy him?

'My favourite American crime-writer' New York Herald Tribune