George Young, a world-weary insurance lawyer in New York City, has taken his fair share of knocks and bruises in the business of credit, bankruptcy, and fraud cases. One Friday he receives an unusual request from the elderly and ailing widow of Wilson Corbett, the founder of the firm George has worked for all his life. At first it seems one more unwanted call on his time, but loyalty to his former boss won't let him ignore it, for the elderly Mrs Corbett has recently lost her son and she wants the truth about his fatal accident. A former high-flier, Roger Corbett's career - and marriage - had fallen apart in the credit crunch, costing him millions. But what was written on the piece of paper which distracted him seconds before he was run down by a garbage truck out side a New York bar? Roger's new girlfriend, a mysterious Czech model with dubious Russian connections, knows more about his last moments than she's letting on, everyone is warning him off, while Mrs Corbett's reasons for choosing George for this last personal favor remain frustratingly unclear.