Jim Holt was working as a programmer in San Diego. He was attacked by his supervisor and defended himself. As a result, almost no one in San Diego would hire him.
He then lucked into a database programmer job with a company that turned out to be in the going out of business business. He made a lot of money betting against the company where he worked. However, he still can't get a job, in San Diego.
Then, one Augie, a big time operator in the wholesale product operation in San Diego, gets busted by the feds. After Augie is arrested, a government snitch, called Angel, is knifed to death.
The beach area, where Augie lived and Jim still lives, shuts down, as the feds search for the murderer.
The feds then want local beach guy Jim to help find the killer.
If Jim finds the killer, then he gets a job, or the San Diego companies get no more federal contracts.
The most likely suspects for the murderer of Angel are six women who were, 'Augie's girls.' The six women lost their sugar daddy and are now suffering economic hardship.
Jim interviews the six women and a few other women. Unfortunately, he begins to come to the conclusion that none of the six women is a viable knife killer.
None of the six women want to have anything to do with the investigation of the murder. They all seem to be afraid of someone or something and they won't tell Jim what they're afraid of.
Jim then begins to suspect that the boyfriend of one of the women may be the knife killer.
The government is becoming very impatient and they will soon begin to prosecute the woman who's the most likely knife killer.
Jim then gathers a few of the "Augie's girls" and runs a bluff that gets him the information that he needs to solve the murder mystery, although no one else can see the solution. Jim then arranges to solve the fear problem among the "Augie's girls."
Finally, Jim gathers the key players and explains who the real murder is and why. The final wrap up of the case is a surprise in itself.