Iris Thorne traded her job teaching the deaf for a career in Los Angeles' glittering financial district, where the day starts on Wall Street time at 6:00 a.m., and - in the and "greed is good and " late 1980s - all of life's questions have numbers for answers.Big numbers. With her not-quite-paid-for Anne Klein suits and Triumph sports car, which leaks a little oil, Iris is a high-stakes success. Still, the only man at the office who knew the real Iris was Alley, the deaf and handicapped mailman. When Alley is killed, the police insist he was a victim of random gang violence. Iris doesn't buy it - and Alley's death has left her with several problems. The first is lanky, red-headed police detective John Somers. . . Iris's first love, back in her life after twenty years. Then there's Alley's secret legacy - a safe deposit box filled with souvenirs and some well-worn items of sentimental value: 238,000 of them, in hundreds, bundled together with rubber bands.The cops are looking for a killer. Some professional hard guys are looking for revenge. And, for a lost friend, Iris is looking for justice - a high-priced commodity in L.A., where life can be even cheaper than dreams