Twelve citizens of Remington County, Illinois, are chosen as jurors in an unsavory date-rape case. But the jury hangs, and a mistrial is declared. While awaiting a new trial, the defendant—Brian Briggs—is free on bail.
When his accuser is found murdered, suspicion naturally centers on Briggs. He threatened the victim in front of witnesses and lacks a solid alibi for the night of the crime. In jail once more, he seems likely to face another trial—this one for murder.
But is he really guilty? Jill McKinnon, a young farmer’s widow and member of the jury that couldn’t convict him of rape, begins to wonder when she learns that another female juror has died in an apparently accidental fall. Then still another tells Jill about an unpleasant encounter with one of the male jurors.