Young reporter Jesse Wickham opens a letter that takes him back to his childhood and a model railroad replica of the town of Paradise, located upstairs in Griffin Wynne's funeral home. The letter sets Jesse on a quest to uncover the meanings of scenes embedded in the town by Griffin. His search brings him into contact with Bibi Durber, an old woman who seems to see into the essence of events. Could Bibi and the town upstairs reveal who killed Ellis Wiggins and Nathan Hanks? Was Nathan's son, Mani Hanks, wrongly convicted of murdering a man named Bennie Hoskins? Was Hoskins connected to the Wiggins and Hanks murders? The town upstairs may hold the answers.