International bankers are gathered in New York City at the height of the world debt crisis of the 1980s to chart a course through danger, but one of the lead negotiators for America's top banking consortium turns up a corpse after a night of routine dining, carousing, and reserved indulgence. P.I. Paul Baxton, a studious lover of New York City street history, turns up the suspects and works with all the usual agencies sent to tackle the questionable death. When bureaucrats, spies, and police think they have the operative cornered, Baxton-who journeyed as far as Seattle for clues-nudges an unusual confession as everyone else is hoping to turn up a more promising lead.