At the conclusion of The Mystic Seer, Gypsy predicts that Kimbo will go on a long journey full of danger and adventure. No sooner said than done as he is summoned back to St. Louis, the former branch of CANS news service, to face a tax audit. Arriving at his old apartment, which had been quarantined on his departure by police lieutenant Helen Chandler, he discovers to his delight that his belongings, including his precious crime notes (from which he narrates the books in this series), have all been preserved exactly as he left them. However, to his dismay he finds the self-same but recently promoted Captain Chandler living there. Equally unhappy to see her old nemesis, Chandler reveals that she had a fight with her live-in boy-friend, an arrogant FBI agent named Bill, and she moved out of her own condo, leaving him in possession rather than fight him in court and open herself to scandal. Without undo animosity but with a relationship lacking both physical and emotional warmth, Kimbo and Helen agree to cohabitate for the relatively short time he will be in the States. The following day he keeps his appointment with the IRS, only to discover it was all a mistake. Since neither cook, the un-couple go out to eat and on the way home Kimbo informs her he has a date: not with another woman but with an informant who offered to sell him a Big Story. While not technically on duty, he can’t refuse the chance to score a headline and meets his contact at Laclede’s Landing down by the Mississippi waterfront. Contrary to expectations, he stumbles over the body of a very recently murdered lawyer and becomes the prime suspect. Jailed without bail, he might have remained there for years except for the unexpected and mysterious appearance of Gypsy. Using her occult powers, she gets frees him and they join forces with Captain Chandler, who has been placed on administrative leave for being a possible accessory to the murder. Interpreting a cryptic note left by the dead lawyer, they follow the trail to a local hospital where they learn the technical details of pacemakers and transtelephonic monitoring, followed by the performance of an EKG on a corpse. All’s well that ends well and Kimbo and Gypsy prepare to return to London. Unfortunately for the reporter, Gypsy falls madly in love with the Arch, the iconic St. Louis landmark symbolizing the Gateway to the West. Having little regard for it, himself, her fascination will come back to haunt him.