A frantic, late night phone call from his estranged wife, Linda, brings Jake Sullivan back to his hometown in Western Pennsylvania. Jake s childhood friend and law school classmate, Simon Branson, is about to be appointed a Federal Judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania when his wife is brutally murdered and he is charged with the crime. Turning to Jake for help, Branson pleads his innocence and claims to be the victim of a political plot to wreck his judicial appointment. Using his reputation and the friendship his investigator, Mike Lang, has with the Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge of the FBI, Jake takes on his friend s case, discovering a political plot does exist . . . one that leads to an unbelievable conclusion.