Ben Kendall was a troubled man. Coming back from Vietnam with scars that no one else could see, he hid away from the world, lling his house with an ever-increasing amount of stu . Finally, the piles collapsed and he was found dead, crushed beneath his own belongings. Ben's cousin, also the medical examiner, is unsettled by the circumstances of his death, and alerts Joe Gunther and his Vermont Bureau of Investigation team. What appears to be the accidental death of a hoarder may be something much more - and much deadlier. Ben, it seems, brought back combat photos and negatives from Vietnam, that someone wants to desperately keep from the public eye. And a two-man hit team is searching for some of the missing negatives. With Joe Gunther and his squad trailing behind the grisly research results of the hit team, Gunther has little time to nd and protect the next person on their list before she ends up in the same state as those before her.