A thoroughbred race horse collapses and dies after finishing last in a race he was favored to win. Hours later the stallion's trainer, a young woman with a promising career, is found dead on a beach in suburban Chicago. The police draw a facile solution - murder/suicide. A woman to blame? Mike Hegan, a veteran police detective being forced to retire on a medical disability, refuses to believe the official version. His search for the truth leads him to a promontory on a Caribbean island where scores are settled and lives lost.