"Hastings' Dead" is set in a small Michigan town, where a University of Michigan student, Range Goloso, has promised her father she'll return to teach grade school. In college Range falls in love with Ben Adler, a New York based law student who can't very well start a lucrative practice without a substantial client base. She defends a local artist accused of pushing his girlfriend off the church bell tower when she wanted to leave town. Actually Range is upholding her town's reputation and realizes her dreams of settling down in Hastings might be dead.