A suspicious death occurs in the peaceful village of Hassman, New York. While the police and coroner write it off as a "natural causes" death, a retired English professor, who is also the village's self-appointed "amateur sleuth," thinks it just might be murder. The professor solves the lethal puzzle when a nighttime visit to the victim's cottage leads to the discovery of a mysterious poem and a dead cat, not to mention a near run-in with the murderer.