Novinárka McNamarová bola odhodlaná vypátrať brutálneho psychopata prezývaného "zabijak zo zlatého štátu," ktorý v Kalifornii na sklonku 70. a začiatkom 80. rokov minulého storočia zavraždil desať ľudí a znásilnil 50 žien. Potom viac ako tri desiatky rokov úspešne unikal policajným zložkám i najlepším detektívom z tejto oblasti. V utorok 24. apríla roku 2018 sacramentský úrad šerifa zatkol bývalého policajta Josepha Jamesa DeAngela pred jeho domom na predmestí. K dolapeniu neslávne známeho sériového vraha im pomohla analýza vzoriek DNA, na základe ktorej bol muž následne obvinený z radu zločinov.

Shirakawa Jiro is a genius author. At the age of 15, his novel won the top prize. He has written 99 mystery novels as a trick genius since then. Shirakawa is tackling what would be his milestone 100th novel, but he has not been able to write anything and this has gone on for more than three months. Aonuma Kiryu is a genius interviewer who is able to get people to loosen their tongues. Shirakawa who takes pleasure in being a fake, has become the transforming interviewer Aonuma Kiryu in order to listen to what people say. He has no interest in the truth but seeks a real case which he had found through the internet as subject matter for his 100th novel. It is the unsolved Tulip Murders in which the grotesque abandoned corpses of two housewives were followed by yet another murder one year later. Together with a pretty editor, Shirakawa heads to the town where the cases occurred. As Aonuma, he gets close to the hidden truth with his formidable powers of deduction.