Japanese interpreter, Zara Spears, is given a new job to assist the detectives of the San Francisco Police Department in a criminal investigation which involves three deaths and a survivor who has suffered third degree burns over most of his body. According to Zara's interpretation, the man calls himself "Ryuu Ishii" and claims that he was attacked the night he sustained his injuries; however, the detectives aren't at all buying Ryuu's story based on forensics, which connects Ryuu's DNA to a murder suspect named Ichiro Higashi who, two years prior, was charged but not convicted due to insufficient evidence.

After more information comes to light and brings into focus a 1987 murder case that happened in the small town of Nagamaki, Japan, which left many of its residents in a perpetual state of anxiety, Zara is driven to find out Ryuu Ishii's true identity. Zara's discovery alone is so shocking that it will have her questioning her own beliefs.