Christmas time in Berkeley California is coming up Grimm for Helen black private investigator clients have been scarce and her lover Frida is no happier than about this new profession of Helen's and she is about her previous career cop. then Helen lands her first important case. her client is wealthy lesbian Donna foresight whose lover is a prime suspect in the death of an employee of a bank in a bank vault. one of eight Bank employees has to be guilty. but which one and why? why was only $200 ticket in from the vault? Christmas tree in the Bank lobby seems to seem significant to the crime but why? what can association did the guilty employee have with the murdered man? and what about Ben the derelict? can Helen decipher from his giverish exactly what he saw on the night of the murder?