Jameson University, a historic women's college in Madison, Alabama, is closing its doors after nearly two centuries. During the cleanout phase, a dismembered corpse is found inside several Cold War survival supply-cans tucked away in the attic of the oldest dorm on campus. Investigators believe the remains are those of Eloise Henderson, a Jameson student missing since 1992. Joe Bamberg is on the story, but he's not getting any cooperation from the police this time. Coping with a cutback on his benzos, he'll have to peel back the decades himself to find out what happened to the girl that nobody seems too eager to talk about.