Terence Rodgers, private investigator, lives in the city of Canaan, in the imaginary state of North Colorado. Born in 1930, he once had a great career. He came to believe that Life, with a capital, "L," conspired against him and he became disillusioned in the mid-sixties. Now, in 1986, he merely goes through the motions. His life is like his office, outdated, tired, and in need of major reworking. An angry uncle, a missing heiress, and a young amnesiac with green eyes are about to shake up his somnambulistic routine. In the card game of life every man needs a Queen of Hearts.