Life for jazz pianist Evan Horne is a series of changes: He has to find a new apartment, his relationship with Natalie, a policewoman-turned-law student, is progressing nicely, and the rehabilitation of his hand has been set back because he tried to do too much too soon, so he can't play. Now his friend, Professor "Ace" Buffington, wants him to come to Las Vegas for "a little job". It seems simple enough: A collector has found an audiotape that seems to be a lost recording by Clifford Brown, one of the most influential trumpeters jazz has ever known. If he hadn't been killed in an auto accident back in the '50s, there's no telling how the shape of the music would have changed. If the tape is authentic, it is worth murder to own. And that's exactly what happens the night Evan shows up to listen, stunned by the sounds he's hearing. No one could play trumpet like Brownie, and Evan is ready to swear that he's listening to the dead man's horn. And as a bonus, the trumpet itself, with the initials C. B. engraved in the bell, is on the table in front of him. That's when simple ends: Moments later, Evan is trying to explain to the Las Vegas police that he has nothing to do with the dead man lying in front of him.