When a beer delivery truck slams into a colonial landmark and its George Washington signet ring on display goes missing, Uther Spurrock, a detective with an enigmatic past, is coaxed out of retirement and quickly discovers that nothing is as it appears in the unassuming borough of Middletown. His investigation of ten suspects becomes intertwined with a manuscript's tale of Middletown's first mayor, Peter Presshall, and his exploits in the Philadelphia...