A woman is out to clear her cousin of murder charges after a blackmailer targeting the wealthy Carlisle family turns up dead. K. C. Carlisle and her cousin Kenneth Carlisle both grew up rich. Kenneth is a corporate lawyer in an exclusive Northern California seaside community while K. C. has a storefront office on the seedy side of town. She takes whatever kind of case walks in her door. But trouble appears one day when Francine Boutelle shows up pretending she wants to write an expose of the Carlisle family, including some dirt on K. C. 's late and highly respectable father. Francine has visited most of the family and is willing to keep the family secrets in exchange for cash. When Kenneth is accused of murdering the blackmailer, K. C. is determined to prove his innocence, no matter where the trail of blood and deception leads.