A seemingly routine accidental shooting of a motorist is quickly solved by Detective Danny Boyland and his partner, Virgil "Spider Webb. The shooter confesses and pleads guilty - too easily they both think, but their bosses close the case. A visit by FBI Agent Mike Havlek reveals the victim was in the witness protection program and was not the first, but the fourth one murdered. They join forces to investigate who is doing the murders, why the victims are being murdered, and who is providing the secret identities and locations of the victims. What they eventually discover leads them to the highest levels of power, money, and influence in the government and corporate worlds, and the Group's quest to synthesize a magic elixir capable of curing the one disease thought to be incurable - the disease of old age.