When the witness in a jewelry store robbery-homicide fails to appear in court, McCoy suspects foul play until he discovers that the man is a fugitive in a 20-year-old murder case.

The death of a stockbroker leads the detectives to his girlfriend, whose mother is a cosmetics mogul who has a longstanding friendship with DA Arthur Branch and will stop at nothing to protect her corporate image by using hormone replacement therapy withdrawal as the basis for her defense.