His impatience growing with liars, public indifference and senseless murders, fifty-year-old, Portland (Maine) homicide detective, Sgt. Joe Burgess, thinks he might be getting too old for the job.

When his Columbus Day picnic plans are cancelled by the discovery of yet another body, Joe finds himself staring into the cold, dead face of a man he knows—Reggie the Can Man.

Burgess and Reggie have a long history going back to high school football and a year together in Vietnam. Mentally ill and upon hard-times, Reggie has lived on the streets for the past decade. Burgess and Reggie's brother have kept him together with lots of ups and downs, always with the hope of redemption.

When an astute medical Examiner questions the accidental nature of Reggie's death, Burges must do one last thing for Reggie— find out the who, and why, of his lost friend's death.

But Reggie's not the only one in need of redemption when the investigation takes some bizarre turns and is nearly derailed over a shocking personal revelation .