Laszlo Boldizar, a notoriously ruthless international cat burglar, known only as the Magyar Murderer, is hired by a little known group of international power elites to retrieve stolen ancient Sumerian metal plates. He travels to south Florida to find the two people most likely to have them. Maury Lupo and Elliot Nussbaum - by luck of the draw, Laszlo visits Maury first. Detective Lieutenant Jack Dempsey finds Maury's lifeless body sitting in front of a horrible picture of his head impaled on a stake displayed on the computer screen. Detective Sargent Samantha 'Sam' Jones, Jack's partner, joins him at the death scene. They conclude Maury's death is a potential homicide.