Lefty legislator Regina Colwell MLA is summoned to a shabby hotel where a young man has drowned in a bathtub. She says she does not know the boy - so why is her name and phone number inked on his hand, the police ask? Wanting answers, Regina checks into the hotel where young Norman Water died to investigate but encounters resistance at every turn from the hotel staff, including Digger Greenwood, the manager, a myopic accountant; and Queenie, his assistant, who warns Regina away with thinly veiled threats of violence.
As Regina interviews the staff, she finds that everybody had a grudge against Norman and were all victim to one of his practical jokes. Regina realizes that Norman's pranks were offshoots of his unique sense of social justice. The hotel is a small world and the grievances are petty but the teenager's death was no accident. Eventually, Regina uncovers the real crime behind all the pettiness - a giant political scandal.