Chicago. Murder. Justice.As Detective Drexel Pierce struggles to overcome the mysterious death of his wife, the murder of a city alderman, Hal "the Bull" Nye, and its investigation threatens Pierce's career. Found in his secure, downtown, high-rise condominium, with no obvious mechanism of death, what killed the Bull may be as mysterious as who killed him. The lone clue that could expose the killer is a cryptic message burned into a desk.The obvious suspect is the Bull's young girlfriend, Kara. While Drexel's commander pushes to arrest her to please the politicians and media, Drexel seeks out the truth, following a trail of pasts best forgotten, mobsters, and rivals. In doing so, Drexel's brother, troubled by his own history of heroin abuse, becomes a pawn in a tangle of competing interests.As the machinery of investigation closes in on the Bull's young girlfriend, Drexel risks it all to save her and save his illusions of a society that believes in truth.