Revelation after his death by an elderly priest of a serious crime, reported in the sanctity of the confessional, leads a police officer friend to follow from birth the strangely connected fate of two girls, one from wealth, the other from poverty, whose paths through all their growing years are unknown to each other but which cross dramatically in the arrest of one for assault and deadly arson.

David Osborn, for over sixty years a writer, lives in Connecticut with his wife, a once American and European ballerina, then renowned in international health policy. Their daughter, a PhD psychologist, practices in Sydney, Australia. Their lawyer son is an advocate for the welfare of animals worldwide.