Rei Shimura is a 27-year-old English teacher living in one of Tokyo's seediest neighborhoods. She doesn't make much money, but she wouldn't go back home to California even if she had a free ticket. Her independence is shaken, however, when a getaway to an ancient castle town is marred by the murder of the beautiful wife of a high-powered businessman. Rei suspects the police aren't looking in the right places, so she does. And she manages to piece together a strange, ever-changing puzzle--one that is built on lies and held together by years of sex and deception.