Lincoln Hart Chambers was once a respected, wealthy law abiding citizen. But the recent stock market crash has resulted in him being deep in debt, and has made him a desperate man willing to do almost anything to regain his lost fortune. He still has his material assets which are sufficient in value to pay off his debts, but that would leave him with nothing. Being a brilliant thinker, he, using a newspaper headline and the thoughts of a ticking clock, devises a diabolical scheme to get back his riches through insurance fraud, but which also has the consequence of killing several hundred innocent people. He checks off his list the needed steps to achieve his goal through this perfect crime which cannot be traced back to him. But has he forgotten an important step, which would not only not make this the perfect crime but one that will not succeed?