Wim Vermeer is a young assistant professor of finance at the Harvard Business School, uncertain of his future and his tenure track. So, when the dean of the department summons him to a hastily called and unscheduled meeting, he knows one part of his uncertain life has been settled.
But instead of terminating his contract, the dean hands him a sensitive assignment. Vermeer learns that during the previous night a student drowned. The student was Eric McInnes, the second son of a fantastically wealthy family. Though the drowning is thought to have been an accident, the family has some questions about the lack of supervision and safety on campus-and so do the police. The dean asks Vermeer to work with the police and assist the family, keeping a close eye on the school's interests all the while.
Vermeer soon realizes that he's been set up to be the fall guy in a particularly nasty cover-up. Not only does the university want a heinous financial scheme hidden, but there's a faculty member who has been keeping some career-ending secrets as well. With the help of scrappy Boston PD Captain Barbara Fournier, Vermeer works frantically to solve a murder and keep his job-at least temporarily.