When the police are called to a building on New York's Upper East Side, Detective Mike Chapman and Assistant DA Alexandra Cooper respond quickly. A resident, Tina Barr, has allegedly been assaulted, but she refuses to cooperate with their inquiries. Within a day Alex and Chapman are back at the same building, confronted with the body of a woman, battered to death, with a mysterious jewel-encrusted book beside her. But the victim isn't Tina Barr - Tina has disappeared.