Harry Baines never thought that a flat tire could turn his life upside down - until he went looking in his trunk for the spare and found a dead body instead. Now he's caught between a corrupt police detective eager to send him away, and the dead girl's father who wants justice done, even if he does it himself. Harry turns to his friends Tom and Ilsa at the Refuge Bar for moral and libationary support and gets more than he expected, or maybe wanted. The case takes him from the plush houses of the rich and powerful to the seamier parts of town. Along the way he finds allies (or are they?) and enemies in the unlikeliest of places. Can Harry figure out this mess before he is jailed by the corrupt police or disappeared by a ruthless father? Or will he have to drink his last Independence Cocktail and relinquish his barstool forever?