In1943,revolutionaryinventorNikolaTesladiedpennilessintheNewYorkerHotel.Within24hourstheU.S.governmentseizedeverythinginhisroom.Butonedesignwasalreadymissing.SeventyyearslaterinBuffalo,NY,abrilliantyoungengineerhasfoundit.Andtheonlypersonshecantrustisalow-rentdetectivewithapack-a-dayhabit.
Clay is a young man in a small town who witnesses his friend kill himself because of the on-going affair that Clay was having with the man's wife. Feeling guilty, Clay now resists the widow when she presses him to continue with their sexual affairs. Clay befriends a troubling serial killer.