The smoldering corpse of an Asian girl found outside the Chinese consul general's apartment leads the detectives to believe she had made a political statement. When forensics shows that she had been murdered beforehand, they find themselves in the middle of a religious conflict with the consul general their prime suspect and his attorney an old friend of District Attorney Branch.

The investigation into the death of a governor's wife uncovers a web of infidelity, greed, and corruption which forces McCoy to counter a defense based on a ground-breaking interpretation of spousal privilege.