As World War I ravages Europe, two beautiful and courageous sisters make a miraculous escape to America from their bitter lives in Poland, thanks to their selfless mother. They settle with their aunt in an immigrant enclave on the north side of Chicago. It's the same neighborhood where two gifted young men, a steelworker and a pharmacist, proceeded them just as war exploded upon the Continent.

Soon the sisters' lives diverge. In the midst of the Great Depression and after sixteen years of estrangement, Martha unexpectedly sends Helen a letter suspiciously offering reconciliation, returning to visit Chicago. Helen's bored and rebellious teenage son, Wally, quickly falls under the captivating spell of his mysterious and glamorous aunt.

After Martha's visit, the neighborhood is beset by two perfect, high-profile robberies, leaving the police baffled. Only secrets whispered in a pharmacy's phone booth, if shared in time, might save Martha, Wally, and many others from the very incarnation of evil. But can the enigmatic outcast who overhears the secrets, accept the devastating personal consequences of letting the whole truth become known?