Paul Lane, a lawyer turned investigator for the District Attorney in Bolivar County, Mississippi in 1970 had one case that he has yet to solve: The notorious killing of two young girls in the county over a year ago and it ate at his soul. When a 15-year-old boy attempts to hock two rings taken from the scene of each murder falsely saying they were taken from his dad's nightstand, Paul believes he has his man and the prosecution goes forward charging the father with capital murder. As it unwinds and the trial looms ahead, the boy wants to recant but cannot for fear he might be prosecuted for perjury or even murder himself, even if it means his father may be wrongly convicted and sent to the state penitentiary for life or even put to death. What can he do to save his father and himself as well?