By the time Carol Golden is asked to help an old friend of her in-laws who lives on the beach in Southern California, it appears that the damage has already been done in the form of a scam that has separated retired business professor Peter Griffenham from a sizeable chunk of money. All Carol can hope to do is help to find the culprits and, hopefully, get some of the money back. She is also saddled with a bouncing one-year-old boy who inhibits her activities. The chief suspect, a bewitching redheaded actress named Amy, has disappeared, and Peter is reluctant to go to the police because he's afraid his son, David, will use his mental lapse as an excuse to attempt to gain control of his entire estate. Carol tries to separate herself from Peter's problems after he refuses to take her advice, but events rapidly spiral out of control as it appears the con artists are after a much larger piece of his money. Carol keeps getting pulled back into the mess, trying to help Peter maintain his independence and at least some of his money, but the outcome will be far different than she has envisioned.