Amid the 1950's, Al, narrator of the story, is told by his doctor to take it easy. He is discharged from the Army and ditches his civilian career as an investigator for an office job. On his vacation he returns to Santiago de Cuba where he had taken a semester abroad years before. He meets his old chum, Ram, who is now chief of police in the city. Ram invites Al to help solve a murder. Relieved that his vacation isn't going to be boring, Al accepts.