The "last magician" is Charlie Chang, a photographer and filmmaker who devotes himself to unraveling the puzzle at the heart of this tale. Twenty-five years ago, he was one of four children who witnessed the death of a fifth. One of them caused the event; blandly amoral, narcissistic and seemingly without guilt, Robinson Gray is now a famous judge, "Australia's golden boy." Charlie and the others -- one woman named Catherine and another named Cat -- remain emotionally maimed. The judge's son and the woman who loves him become catalysts in reopening the drama and are sucked into the whirlpool of evil it again sets in motion.