Archy McNally lives a life most people only dream about. As Chief of Discreet Inquiries at his father's white-shoe law firm, Archy keeps tabs on the rich and famous while keeping hours only a barfly could love. When well-to-do widow Edythe Westmore is urged to buy a Faberge Imperial egg, her adult offspring violently oppose the investment and enlist Archy's services to put the kibosh on the deal.

As he investigates the bona fides of the bejeweled trinket, the mysterious machinations of the siblings, family advisors, and an aged antiques dealer are revealed, and Archy is thrust into a whirling vortex of greed, passion, and murder that even he must fight to rise above.