Talcott Garland's quiet life as an Ivy League law professor is shattered when his father, Judge Oliver Garland, dies of a heart attack. The nature of the judge's death is brought under question by Talcott's sister, a former journalist and constant conspiracy theorist, who believes that the judge, one of the few African-American nominees for the Supreme Court in the 1980s, met with foul play due to his unpopular and conservative positions on various court cases. Talcott dismisses his sister's suspicions as an outlet for her grief. However, when two men turn up dead, and an FBI Agent is revealed to actually be a PI investigating the judge - Talcott begins to explore his father's possible murder. What Talcott uncovers, though, is a scandal that rocked his father's career 15 years earlier and secrets that put him in harm’s way. Now, Talcott must solve the mystery before he loses his sanity – and his life.