Content Warning: This novel includes numerous uses of derogatory language against unhoused people, as well as depictions of police violence, alcohol use disorder, and the abuse and exploitation of people who are incarcerated.

In 1909, the Spokane police are under pressure to catch a burglar responsible for a string of home robberies on Cannon Hill. Alfred Waterbury, a police officer who looks up to his commanding officer, Acting Police Chief John Sullivan, patrols the foot of South Hill with two colleagues, Hage and Roff.

Skeptical that the burglar will appear, Alfred reflects on his wife’s negative opinions of Spokane. He sees a shadow he thinks is Roff, but then the figure shoots Alfred and escapes. Hage reaches Alfred and tries to relieve his pain, but all Alfred can think of is how pathetic he sounds. Alfred speaks out incoherent fragments of his inner monologue, his thoughts going from the pain of mortal wounds to his wife, Rebecca, whose name he repeats until he dies.

Two brothers, Gregory “Gig” and Ryan “Rye” Dolan, wake up on a ball field among unhoused people. The narrative flashes back to the night before. Gig takes Rye to the Comique Theater to see Ursula the Great, a dancer with whom Gig is smitten.