With 28 years in the Army, Colonel David Coop is facing retirement from his final job on the faculty of the Army War College. He hears from a former colleague who is investigating two murders of female soldiers, a dozen years apart. One of Coop's students is a person of interest in at least one of the killings. As the criminal investigation unfolds, Coop finds himself reviewing the effects of his own past and confronting his fading career prospects.