The case is routine, the sort that clogs dockets and causes yawns from court stenographers. Carnival owner Tally Ames has accused three local men of destroying one of his rides. Quite predictably, Judge Deborah Knott rules in favor of Ames, demands restitution from the culprits, and then moves on to the next case. But then, just a few weeks later, carnival misdemeanor escalates to carnival murder: Ames's son is battered to death, his bloody mouth stuffed with coins; and Judge Knott begins to wonder where this not-so-merry-go-round will stop.