In 1926, musician Tom Hickey reads about a lynching the Los Angeles newspapers failed to report and realizes the Negro victim is an old friend. He goes to his neighbor, LAPD detective Leo Weiss who confirms that, officially, the lynching didn't occur. The murder happened in Echo Park, across the street from evangelist Aimee Semple McPherson's Angelus Temple. When Tom goes there looking for clues, he is greeted by an usher who continues to follow him after the service. Leo, a speakeasy owner, and a Klansman all warn him he's made formidable enemies - among them publisher and political heavyweight William Randolph Hearst. When Tom discovers the key to the murder, it lies close to home.