Dr Siri Paiboun, reluctant national coroner of the People's Democratic
Republic of Laos, is summoned to a remote location in the mountains of
Huaphan Province, where for years the leaders of the current government
had hidden out in caves, waiting to assume power. Now, as a major
celebration of the new regime is scheduled to take place, an arm is
found protruding from the concrete walk that was laid from the
President's former cave hideout to his new house beneath the cliffs. Dr
Siri is ordered to supervise the disinterment of the body attached to
the arm, identify the corpse, and discover how he died.