Syndicated columnist, Harry Ellison, who lives with Sergeant Debbie Simmons of the Washington, D. C. Metropolitan Police Department, has a penchant for becoming involved in unusual murder mysteries. But, the case that began with a telephone call from his niece, Stephanie, a doctoral student in music, may be the most bizzare case of all. Recently returned from Vienna where she was doing research on her doctoral dissertation on Franz Schubert, Stephanie finds herself stalked by a person, unknown, while working in the Library of Congress. The person leaves her fragments of musical notation that appear to be the missing part of an unfinished Schubert composition. The music is unmistakably Schubert's in style, but is it authentic or the opening gambit in an elaborate scam? And, how do these musical fragments relate to the unexplained deaths of three renowned Schubert scholars? When Harry and Debbie begin their investigation, they encounter deception, danger, and ultimately must match wits with a diabolical killer.