The gruesome murder of a young woman shatters the quiet of the Wisconsin countryside and newly-elected Sheriff Phil Norman must solve the case, the only substantial clue an abundance of unidentifiable fingerprints. In Flynn, the county seat, affairs of the heart prove false, with the exception of the first deputy and his girlfriend who elope. But the sheriff’s romantic hopes are renewed upon meeting Rebecca Archer who, unknown to him, is going through another emotionally unstable period. When he gives her a tour of his partially-constructed house, she approves, even though something is missing, a fireplace, a fact that he soon rectifies. They fall deeply in love, yet she manages to keep him at arm’s length, leaving him totally confused. When she discovers that he is about to propose marriage she realizes that she must tell him about herself or risk losing him forever. Shaken and fearful of the outcome, will she have the strength to act on the advice of her physiatrist friend and tell all? When the sheriff is shot and found near death, help in solving the case of the young woman’s murder comes from a formerly reluctant source. An arrest is attempted but the guilty party eludes justice.