Dade Cooley and his wife Ellen leave their San Francisco home to attend the Los Angeles funeral of their friend, classics professor Paul Van Damm. Van Damm was murdered on the very day he and his wife, Greek actress Sophie Galanos, returned from a vacation in Europe. Accused is Manuel Garcia, son of the Van Damms' housekeeper Luisa, and the motive is robbery: a piece of costume jewelry brought back from Greece is missing. When Luisa asks Dade, a frequent quest at her late employer's home, to represent her son, he agrees. What ensues is a delightful, twisting investigation.