After solving a murder case at the resort town of Davos, Switzerland, in "The Lonesome Autocrat," private investigator R.A. Huber is back in California. Iris Camden, owner of Optimum House, engages her to find out who's responsible for the bizarre thefts and pranks at her facility. Huber sends her newly hired young assistant, Andi, to pose as a modeling school student at Optimum House in the Big Bear Lake area. Rookie Andi handles the investigation quite well and soon suspects that a pool drowning treated as an accident by the police is no less than murder. When another homicide is committed, Huber decides that it is time for her to make a trip to Big Bear for herself. So the seasoned sleuth and the novice put their heads together and crack the mystery, but not before the killer silences a third victim and threatens R.A. Huber's life.