Former heavyweight champion and native son Atticus King returns to Washington, D.C., for a title bout. His wife is found murdered in their hotel penthouse. The first officer on the scene, Temple, comes under suspicion because of a past relationship with the victim, whom her husband habitually abused. Also, a custodial worker at the police department is discovered to have a false identity.

Mannion tells Jenny McLure how Temple and Debreno arrested her brother while she was waiting for her final day. Jenny is dying from AIDS, and Mannion makes sure her last days pass with company and happiness. The cocaine found at Lester's apartment is missing, and Parras becomes the target of the investigation into who switched the coke with sugar. They can't put Lester away without the evidence, but his pistol matches numerous murder scenes. Finally, Chief Mannion finds the mole who swapped the coke for the sugar and sends Lester to jail. Unfortunately, Jenny doesn't live to see the following day: she passes away before Mannion's rally to raise people's awareness of the danger and prevention of AIDS and honor her legacy.