Willie, a housepainter, thinks that Lucas Trust, the man who hired him, has it all--mansion, money, a T-shirt model girlfriend--until one day, the rich man's past catches up to him in the form of a car bomb. Amateur sleuth Willie (who loves reading detective novels), tries to put the pieces together. Short Top Detroit is a tough private eye who only exists in novels, but one way of stepping into the real world is through Willie. As Willie tries to figure out who blew up Lucas, he begins to hear Short Top's voice in his head, teaching him how to become a detective, and in the process, Short Top begins to merge with Willie.