As long as Newark Eagle-Examiner reporter Carter Ross turns in his stories on deadline, no one bats an eye if he doesn't wander into the newsroom until 10 or 11 in the morning. So it's an unpleasant surprise when he's awakened at 8:38 by a phone call from his boss, telling him a local policeman was killed and Carter will be covering the story, starting immediately. He's baffled when, hours later, there are still no other reporters at the widow's house. And then he gets another call from his boss: the story's off, the cop committed suicide. But when Carter's calls to the police and the morgue are repeatedly blocked, it's clear someone knows more than he's saying about the cop's death.