Psychologist Peter Kristal has a method for sorting out people's lives. By arranging their histories like the index entries in a biography, the sequences of cause and effect that have led to their particular neuroses are cunningly revealed. His technique gains him a modicum of success: a thriving practice in Chicago with a client list of thriving stars.

But by concentrating on his rival Richard he is blind to the other factors which put both his life and the lives of others at risk...