When Nota County Sheriff's detective Tom Newquist dies of a heart attack, his widow is sure he was keeping secrets from her, and she wants Private Investigator Kinsey Millhone to find out more But no one is prepared to talk All Kinsey can uncover is that Newquist appeared to lead an exemplary life She is about to give up when her next interview is with a masked attacker in her motel room, then there's a chilling new clue, a childish drawing of a hangman's noose