Matt Hunter has a new interest - he's become involved in an exclusive mystery sim, playing the wisecracking legman for a reclusive detective genius, in competition with a large number of other sleuths playing the game. But when the sim programmer bases the new mystery on a genuine murder case involving a prominent political family, reality begins intruding on the virtual world in a big way. Investigating this supposedly cold case will stir up more trouble than Matt - and the Net Force Explorers - ever dreamed of.