Police Chief Calderón left a large police force in Tucson, Arizona to be with his daughter while she attends a prestigious art academy on Cape Cod. He is bored in the small two-person police office until his deputy, Roger, tells him that the famous opera star, Da'veeda Sherone, has been killed and eaten...partially eaten, that is...by her pet anaconda. What looks like an accident, Calderón quickly determines is intentional and he now has a murder case to investigate. The investigation, however, leads him to a network of rogue scientists developing a transgenic Quetzalcoatl. Why? There is big money to be had in genetically engineered 'designer species.' During his investigation, Calderón encounters an enigmatic woman, Tezca, who mystifies him and connects him to his own Toltec ancestors. His investigation leads him to Mexico, where he thinks the case is solved. It isn't.