A January Sunday morning in Key West, hours before tourists will stagger from their motels to swarm the island. Freelance photographer Alex Rutledge enjoys the near-vacant streets, taking pictures for his own enjoyment. Within minutes, Rutledge is jumped by thugs with knives, but smarts and luck allow his escape. Two hours later the city police request Rutledge's forensic photo expertise when a murder victim has been found-at the same construction site. An hour later, the new county sheriff, Chicken Neck Liska, asks Rutledge to photograph another murder victim in a remote area of Stock Island. A pleasant Sunday in the Keys has turned into a nightmare. During the next 24 hours, Rutledge will suspect that the two murders are linked -through him. There is no identifiable antagonist, no motive, no reason for Rutledge to be a hub for evil. Rutledge must gather information to protect himself and others, to avoid arrest, and to trace a possible motive for the killings. As Alex tells his woman friend, Teresa Barga, "Finding information on this island is like pushing a yacht to the top of a lighthouse."