The year is 1913. Voters in St. Clair County approve of a road commission, which qualifies the county for state funds to pave roads. Businessmen compete vigorously for contracts. As the competition intensifies, a man is brutally murdered, his mutilated body left lying on the shore of Lake Huron. Patrolman Tobias Sharpe and Detective John Gressley of the Port Huron Police are assigned to investigate the murder. Their investigation uncovers adultery, blackmail, gambling, child pornography and prostitution. As the murder investigation progresses, a United States Customs official announces that hundreds of women are kidnapped in Canada, and smuggled into Port Huron each year. Since the police do not take this charge seriously, Bill Boyd, a brash newspaper reporter, decides to make inquires. He is soon drawn into the middle of the odious white slave trade. James Maywar has skillfully combined a lively imagination with historical facts about the United States and Port Huron, Michigan to produce an exciting mystery.