Part One: The Rat
Tobias Lindblade, an ageing Chicago meathead with a PI licence and a few tricks left up his sleeve, leads us on a twisted path of wounded honour, murder and revenge. Hired by a mysterious client to help unravel a quarter century of organised criminal history, he traces the final footsteps of Vincent Tortelli. A fixer and bag-man to Don Francisco Gagliardi, Vinnie the Rat has targeted by the Feds and looks dangerously close to living up to his name. Pressured by FBI Agent Donohoe, Vinnie agrees to serve up the killer of a local judge to avoid a thirty-year sentence. Vinnie sets up a pay-off meeting with the hitman, allowing Donohoe to tail him. The hitter is a cautious man, and he's already wise to Vinnie's plan. Under the personal instructions of the Don's son-in-law and chief lieutenant, he comes within inches of killing Tortelli before Donohoe intervenes, shooting him dead. Sadly for the Rat, Donohoe's got a foot in both worlds. He kills Vinnie and sets the scene to look like a mob deal gone bad, tying up all the loose ends in the judge's homicide case at once. Vinnie learns too late that in Chicago, it's tough to tell the good guys from the bad.