A hobo turns up dead in a bin. Among the gawkers is Acey Albert Tapp, a jobless man facing the death of his mother. Acey finds employment with an aging PI. He takes on a case involving a local woman gone missing for five decades, and again crosses paths with the deceased drifter. Only this time the sighting is in an old photo showing the hobo and the missing woman as teenage sweethearts. Coached by his mentor and boss, and despite a series of seemingly unrelated personal tragedies, Acey delves deeper into the woman's movement prior to her disappearance. What follows is a roller-coaster ride for Acey, his boss and a killer determined to keep secret his involvement in multiple murders.