When several employees get ill from tainted potato salad and one actually dies, the university issues the customary condolences and goes right on with business as usual. When the son of a prominent Shelbyville family demands an investigation into suspicious circumstances surrounding the death of his friend and lover, the university is forced to pay attention. Action must be taken, and the university provost knows just the man for the job. Recent university retiree James Crawford isn't sure he's qualified to investigate a suspicious death, but he finds it impossible to turn down the provost's request. Thrust into the role of private eye, Crawford finds that murder begets murder, and he is soon on the trail of a ruthless killer. Can Crawford expose the murderer before someone else is killed?