The first evidence is found in the belly of a shark: a hand sporting a jade ring. The hand belongs to a Silicon Valley billionaire. When the rest of his bullet-ridden body washes up on shore, Dismas Hardy, assistant D.A., is suddenly plunged into San Francisco's murder trial of the century. A Japanese call girl with a long list of bigshot johns is the defendant. But a series of bizarre twists and turns blows the case wide open, making Hardy himself a target for everyone from the victim's sexy daughter to the vengeful judge who wants Hardy to sizzle . . . .