Sylvia Thorn, Circuit Court Judge in Palm Beach County, Florida, takes an unexpected trip to her hometown of Sangamon City, Illinois when her older brother, Willie Grisseljon, is confined to a county hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. A Vietnam vet with lingering side effects from the war, Willie finds a body while he's on vacation. When he tries to report his discovery to a deputy sheriff, he is locked up as a vagrant with delusions. Willie insists on returning to the site where the body is hidden before notifying the sheriff. Soon he and Sylvia discover clues about the murdered businessman, his wife, a tenant farmer, concealed Indian artifacts, and uprooted stands of prairie grass that may help the sexy sheriff find the murderer.