A freshman boy is found murdered in his dorm room at Gallaudet University. But the campus’s tight security means that the only person who could be the killer is someone on the inside. Panic enshrouds the school, and in an effort to get everything under control, detectives make a quick arrest. But when another student is killed four months later, everyone realizes it’s worse than they thought; not only was the original defendant innocent, but one of their own students is a serial killer.

In 1886, a small tourist town in the hills of Warren County, New Jersey, are rocked when a young woman’s body is found on the grounds of the Centenary Collegiate Institute. Tillie Smith’s murder caused a media sensation throughout the tri-state area, and the incessant coverage forced investigators to quickly apprehend a suspect. And though the college’s maintenance man was tried and found guilty, later assessment of his arrest and trial would lead many to believe that justice had let the real killer escape.

YingYing Zhang’s future looked bright. The international doctoral student had everything going for her; talent, intellect, success, and a support system at both the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and in her home country of China. But when she missed the bus one afternoon on her way to get an off-campus apartment, she would vanish without a trace. The ensuing national investigation into her disappearance would put the American criminal justice system on display for the world to see. In the end, neither YingYing’s family, or the Chinese citizenry believed true justice was served.