The story, set in Gilbert, Texas, concerns a brothel a little outside of town that has been operating for more than a century. In the late 1970s it is under the proprietorship of Miss Mona Stangley, who, while taking care of her girls, is also on good terms with the local sheriff, Ed Earl Dodd. When a crusading television reporter, Melvin P. Thorpe, "uncovers" the illegal activity (that is, makes an issue out of something that is common, but quiet, knowledge in Texas), political ramifications cause the place to be closed down