When a young man who dies in an industrial accident because he couldn't read the hazard signs. Quincy takes on the problem of adult illiteracy. A problem that hits close to home with Quincy, when he finds that his friend can't read.
A young boy, Tim, goes to do some welding at his workplace and ends up dying in an explosion. One of Asten's top field investigators, Arnold Chatham, thinks that it should not have happened. He discovers that Tim couldn't read and continues his investigation while Quincy tries to find out how someone who couldn't read managed to get through school.