Science has been Caspian's life, but an unorthodox approach to problem solving is out of favour with the new corporate ethos that sees science as a business and truth no longer holds any currency. There are other pressures as Caspian's French wife, Marie-Claire, is becoming increasingly disenchanted with life at a remote beach on Maori tribal lands, an environment and lifestyle that Caspian is reluctant to give up. But when the body of a colleague is washed up on the sand and another is arrested on suspicion of murder, nothing can be quite the same again. As he seeks to establish his friend's innocence, Caspian stumbles across a culture of corruption and a money trail leading to an international pharmaceutical company. As the danger grows, the dirty underbelly of science for profit is revealed with murder as Exhibit A..