Detective Dave Robicheaux is recovering from gunshot wounds received during a shoot-out at Bayou Teche, struggling with morphine-induced dreams peopled by the demons of his past, when he receives the kind of visitor not exactly guaranteed to restore a man's sanity. Tee Jolie Melton is a young Cajun woman with a troubled past, and she needs Robicheaux's help. The problem is, no one else sees her at the hospital but worst of all, she was reported missing weeks earlier. But Robicheaux is convinced she's not a figment of his fevered imagination.