For amateur sleuth and college professor Thomas Martindale, campus life is rarely dull or routine. Take jury duty. The chance encounter of a fellow juror and colleague leads to the discovery of a scheme to use illegal immigrants in deadly virus research. Or service on a presidential search committee. Amid the long meetings and sometimes bizarre candidates, Martindale finds mhimself the target of someone who may have a grudge against one of the candidates. And there is Commencement, the most important day of the academic year. He is enjoying the ceremony when a tragic incident changes things.