The body of Sarah Reese, teenage daughter of a powerful D.C. judge, is discovered in a slum in the shadow of the Capitol. The police promptly arrest three local black kids, but newspaper reporter Sully Carter suspects the slaying might be related to a string of cold cases the police barely investigated. Home from war-torn Bosnia and hobbled by loss, rage, and alcohol, Sully pursues the truth in a city rife with its own brand of treachery and intrigue.