Charles Bentley, a professor at prestigious Opal College, is forced into retirement when the college hires Garrison Underwood, an academic star from England, to teach Bentley's courses in American literature. Not only does this Englishman take his courses, he immediately takes Charles' office. After a heated exchange between them, Charles goes out to the parking lot to cool off. When he returns, he finds that someone has killed Underwood by bashing in his head with a cricket trophy, a trophy that Charles had thrown across the room during their argument. Charles quickly finds that in order to remove imself from suspicion, he must discover who had committed the murder.