Inspector Hal Challis is in bed with Sergeant Ellen Destry when he gets a telephone call informing him that a man has been beaten nearly to death. Challis has been notified because the victim is the chaplain at a prestigious boarding school and has ties to powerful local politicians. It turns out that he is also the head of a fundamentalist church. Before Challis can complete his investigation, another, seemingly unrelated, crime occurs. A distraught husband reports his wife missing. He is known to be both jealous and controlling, and at first, Challis thinks he's overreacting but, in fact, she has been murdered. The husband is the obvious suspect although it is possible that her job, punishing land use violations, might also have endangered her. At the same time, among hordes of vacationing high school seniors, a young man is left drugged and naked on the beach. Could this relate in some way to the other crimes? And will the new romantic relationship between Challis and Destry interfere with their ability to work together to identify the criminals?
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