 Howard Fairchild is dead. For the past few weeks his widow, Phoebe, has been consumed with funeral logistics. Her sad and empty house has been all but destroyed by grieving friends and family. In an effort to put the past behind her, and begin a new chapter in her life, she starts to clean. After having polished every piece of brass in the house, she still feels empty. Phoebe s feelings are revealed slowly in a series of telephone messages left on her absentee daughters answering machine. There is one room in the house that has been left untouched by Phoebe s furious cleaning, Howard s study. Fueled by an uncontrollable desire to start fresh, Phoebe starts to look through Howard s things. As she digs deeper she realizes that Howard was not the dull retiree that she married, but instead a passionate artist and engineer obsessed with human flight. As her search for the truth continues Phoebe finds a key that will unlock all her husbands  secret projects.