Murder in a posh, government-sponsored, conference center on Chesapeake Bay leaves security guard, Jill McCormick, unsatisfied with the local sheriff's investigation and asking a certain handsome deputy for inside information. Jill, the deputy, and her friend, conference assistant Sandy Pearce, dislike center director Ted Savin. Nor are they surprised by rumors of his affair with the dead doctor's wife. But still they are reluctant to believe he's guilty of murder—then evidence against him begins to pile up. The sheriff refuses to consider Savin as suspect #1, and when Jill suspects a cover-up, she starts her own investigation. Before long she finds herself swimming in very deep and stormy waters.