Hana Walker, artist and philanthropist, is asked by the POTUS to paint his official portrait. It's an honor she can't refuse because it will also give her an opportunity to right an old wrong. A white southern president requesting a black southern artist to paint his portrait makes good press so the eyes of the nation are watching. The night before the big day, Hana is murdered. Caroline Roberts, a private investigator, is in DeWitt, Louisiana to verify that over a dozen of Hana Walker's paintings, insured for two and a half million dollars, were destroyed in the arson fire that killed the artist. Caroline finds the small southern town hot, hostile, and just plain annoying. The information she's been given about how the artist died is not adding up. But everyone wants the investigation wrapped up and the case closed, including the town's inhospitable sheriff and the hometown hero and charismatic nominee to be Chief Justice for SCOTUS. After Caroline finds Hana's hidden sketch and recordings she knows that she must follow the truth wherever it leads. What's done in the darkness will come to the light.