This book begins when Lee Kaaler returns home from a weekend vacation on the Oregon coast only to find his apartment has been ransacked. He immediately calls the police, who discover there are no spoons in his apartment. They also tell him the burglary appears to have been well planned and professionally done, implying the burglar and his or her bosses thought Lee had something of value. He knows he owns nothing unusual for a bachelor, and certainly nothing valuable. A week later his parents' home is also burgled with the same result: only spoons were taken and all other valuable possessions...

This book begins when Lee Kaaler returns home from a weekend vacation on the Oregon coast only to find his apartment has been ransacked. He immediately calls the police, who discover there are no spoons in his apartment. They also tell him the burglary appears to have been well planned and professionally done, implying the burglar and his or her bosses thought Lee had something of value. He knows he owns nothing unusual for a bachelor, and certainly nothing valuable. A week later his parents' home is also burgled with the same result: only spoons were taken and all other valuable possessions...