Sylvia Thorn, circuit court judge in Palm Beach County, Florida, takes an unexpected trip to Sangamon City, Illinois when her older brother, Willie Grisseljon, is confined to a county hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. A Vietnam veteran with a few lingering side effects from the war, Willie was on vacation, exploring the countryside where he and Sylvia had grown up. There he found a body, and when he tried to report his discovery to a deputy sheriff, he was locked up as a vagrant with delusions. Willie is released from the hospital when Sylvia arrives. Expecting to return to Florida immediately, Sylvia is reluctantly drawn into the mystery when Willie insists on returning to the site where the body is hidden. When the two discover a local businessman is missing, they make the connection and notify the sheriff.
