Since retiring as head of a famous New York City private school, Maggie Detweiler is busier than ever. Chairing a team to evaluate the faltering Rye Manor School for girls, she will determine whether, in spite of its fabled past, the school has a future at all. With so much on the line for so many, tensions on campus are at an excruciating pitch, and Maggie expects to be as welcome as a case of Ebola virus.
At a reception for the faculty and trustees to welcome Maggie's team, no one seems more keen for all to go well than Florence Meagher, a star teacher who is loved and respected in spite of her affliction--that she can never stop talking.
Florence is one of those dedicated teachers for whom the school is her life, and yet the next morning, when Maggie arrives to observe her teaching, Florence is missing. Florence's husband, Ray, an auxiliary policeman in the village, seems more annoyed than alarmed at her disappearance. But Florence's sister is distraught. There have been tensions in the marriage, and at their last visit, Florence had warned, If anything happens to me, don't assume it's an accident.
Two days later, Florence's body is found in the campus swimming pool.