Brash Norfolk homicide detective Johnny Edmonds investigates two murders in 1940. A Jewish college professor is found stabbed in a downtown alley. A few blocks away, an African American racketeer is dead with five bullets in his chest. Due to Norfolk's segregated society, the two killings appear unrelated.
Johnny became a policeman to one day settle his score with mobster Rocco Diangelo. Like an octopus, Rocco has his tentacles wrapped around every criminal enterprise in Norfolk. During Prohibition, Johnny's father was Rocco's bootlegging competitor. After his father was shot dead in the street, Johnny wasn't fooled. Although a patsy was convicted and executed for the murder, only Rocco benefited from eliminating his father.
As he moves through Norfolk's seamy underside to solve the two murders, he believes Rocco is the common denominator. But has he allowed his personal vendetta to cloud his judgement? He uncovers a new menace lurking in the shadows that may be behind the two murders.