Hammer Spade is a small time private investigator and bail bondsman in Durham, North Carolina. One morning a famous international model pays him a call because she believes something has happened to her husband. She hires Hammer to find him. There is an air of mystery about her and soon Hammer becomes involved with her equally mysterious family who are exiles from their home country. They are unbelievably rich and seeds are planted for some dramatic changes in Hammer's life. But first, he must locate an eccentric writer named Bernard Hatcher.