Sheriff Ike Schwartz is convinced that the near fatal automobile crash his fiancée, Ruth Harris, was involved in was not an accident, and not having jurisdiction over the case, he decides to begin an rogue investigation to determine who put Ruth into a coma.

"On the same evening that a body is found in Picketsville's urgent care clinic, a mysterious break-in occurs at the house of one of Callend University's faculty. Sheriff Ike Schwartz thinks both events might be connected to an icon, The Virgin of Tenderness, in the faculty member's possession. Is the victim somehow connected to the university? And why did he enter the country under an assumed name? Then, what appears to be outdated spycraft--a microdot--is...