Dr. Matilda Hunter comes from California to take up the position of Dean of Students at Pascal College, a small, selective college in New England. Matilda barely has time to get settled in her new office, when she learns that the Dean of Faculty has been accused of sexual harassment by one of his students. Shortly after Matilda hears about this, the body of the student is found on a nearby hill. Lt. Joe Grimes, a respected local police officer who was "demoted" to Pascal campus duty when he decided to begin studies for the ministry, is assigned to investigate the case - as well as two others which follow. While the top brass at the college don't overtly interfere with investigations, they are inclined to hush the matter up rather than to identify the killer. Or killers - for on the surface, the evidence seems to point to three different criminals with very different motives. But Matilda has a strong intuition that the same person committed all three crimes. She steps forward to help Grimes, risking her new position as well as her personal safety.