Corrosive greed, public corruption, and environmental degradation intertwine in small, historic Ellicott City, on the Patapsco River that feeds into the Chesapeake Bay. Jack Tasker is a typical thirteen-year-old, save for being the nephew of a not so typical uncle, Ben Tasker, a loving surrogate dad though an irascible newspaper man. When the skeletal remains of a young girl, over a century old, surface at the reportedly haunted Patapsco Female Institute, the police are compelled to search the grounds for more bodies. Surprisingly, they find a newly murdered John Doe. Immediately Ben and Jack are also on the case. While the two pursue clues on the Institute grounds, an apparition surreptitiously leads them to discover a backpack in the hollow of a tree. Ben and Jack realize they have opened a Pandora's box that could jeopardize forever the health and well-being of millions who rely on the Chesapeake watershed.