In 1953, a small lakesiide community is shocked by the brutal murder of a young mother. Local police initially believe the crime to be a case of domestic violence by the husband. The case, however, goes cold for nearly a year until the arrival of a stranger, come to take custody of seven-year old Johnny "D," who witnessed his mother's murder. New evidence prompts three unlikely allies to work to solve the case: a wise-cracking policeman, a frail, Holocaust survivor, and a former German rocket scientist. Was the murder tied to Nazi war crimes related to the construction of Hitler's V-2 rocket program? Blackmail and a government coverup are part of this tale that bears witness to the postwar space race between the U.S. and Russia to get a spacecraft to orbit. Meanwhile, young Johnny must adjust to a new home and guardian, while continuing to be an adventuous, inquisitive boy in a cultural era fascinated with evolving aerospace technology.