When a dying colleague calls upon Charles Bentley to investigate the disappearance of a poet who taught on campus over twenty years ago, he is reluctant to do so. Although he was half in love with the woman who vanished, he is sure that she has been dead for two decades, and there is little he will be able to discover. However, the insistence of his colleague and his own guilt at having done nothing at the time urge him to take up the investigation. At the same time, he is prevailed upon by the chair of the English Department to direct a student play written by the boyfriend of a formerly famous movie actress, who will also appear in the production. Again, he reluctantly agrees. Surprises from the past and death in the present place Charles in danger and force him to make difficult decisions.