Eleanor Armitage has isolated herself in the small town where she' s chosen to live. Her job selecting fabrics for a designer makes it possible for her to work and travel without much personal contact with others. She' s not unhappy; she' s just, by desire, totally disengaged from what we would consider " normal" life. But when Eleanor witnesses a particularly ugly crime, that event pulls at her and, as she follows various aspects of what she has seen, she' s released from her self-imposed prison and welcomes friendship and even romance.