New Orleans P.I. Lee 'Red' Gammon set up a modest business in Louisiana after his release from the military. The town and the people appealed to him, and he looked forward to a low-key future with time to relax between clients. This chiefly amounted to playing clarinet in the city's more intimate, out-of-the-way jazz clubs.

True, there was a slightly unsettling feeling to certain parts of the city, but he put that down to nerves resulting from the setting up of the business.

Things got off to a rocky stat, with more free time that he'd like. That was when Misaka first appeared. Much as he tried, Lee couldn't get a read on her. She appeared to be an oriental girl who favored elaborate hair styles and red silk. But there was more to it than that. She had a disconcerting knack of appearing and vanishing without explanation -- and she brought him tips that he would rather do without. Those cases routinely fed into the city's strange vibe.

When a reed breaks during a night note, Lee takes a smoke break in the alley behind one of the clubs, and promptly encounters both an ethereal melody drifting through the cool night air and a severed head. In no time at all, Gammon finds himself confronted by a distinctly nasty supernatural case which he may not survive.