A group of young men rents downstairs while a group of young women rents upstairs in a New Jersey beach house for the summer of 1971. One of the girls, Eileen Meredith, is found murdered in her bedroom at the house. Local Detective Hanahan, on the verge of retirement and needing a murder case like he needs a hole in the head, takes over the case. Things ebb and flow as suspects arise and excite the detective's interest. At last, with the help of one of the house's inhabitants, a strange plan takes shape to draw out the murderer. Will it succeed?