In 1965, at the age of 25, Alan Ackland is sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of a business associate. In 1971, Sylvia Barker, lonely and depressed after a failed marriage and with two young children to bring up alone, seeks a new direction in her life and applies to become a voluntary prison visitor. Several years later their paths cross.

After restaurateur Sam Wong dies in a telephone booth after making a call, law clerk Elaine Choi is tasked with executing his will. In order for the will to be valid, it needs to be signed by its recipients, but Choi finds that each of them are reluctant to do so.