While excavating the ruin of the Great Stone Church at the Mission of San Juan Capistrano, archaelogist Tamar Saticoy uncovers a burned set of human bones. The assumption is that they come from a member of a local tribe of Native Americans who must have died in a fire. A self-appointed guardian of Native-American heritage threatens Tamar to stop her from studying the remains.

As the coroner investigates, it becomes more likely that the bones are evidence of a recent murder. Given the bone structure, they could be the remains of a Native American or an Asian male, since the two groups share ancestry.

While the skeleton's story is being pieced together, Tamar is asked to legitimize a collection of Thai artifacts recently acquired by a local museum. Her questions about the provenance of the collection are brushed aside. In her previous experience with Dey, the chief curator of the museum, she has found him to be charasmatic, but glib, ignorant, egotistical, and ambitious. He shrugs off her questions and concerns for the laws protecting antiquities.

There are other people involved, including an appraiser, the curator's fiancee, who certified the value of the collection to provide the anonymous donor with a tax write-off.

Sensing things are underhanded at best, Tamar fears that the artifacts are the product of looting. What Dey wants is to exploit Tamar's credentials. He offers her the opportunity to authenticate the treasures, to "make her name." Tamar declines, knowing that not only Dey, but the museum director, too, are prepared to lie to further their careers.

At a meeting of the archeological society, she learns that her former mentor, the most eminent authority in prehistoric Thailand, is dying from cancer. This explains why, at the same convention, an agent from Interpol recruits Tamar to investigate the looting of ancient Thai sites.

A journey to Thailand nearly costs her her life. Her search for answers leads to the discovery of the identity of the body she unearthed in San Juan Capistrano plus other murders, as she works to uncover a smuggling ring dealing in ancient Thai artifacts.

Woven through the merging threads is the story of Tamar's traumatic past with grave robbers, narrated by a retired archaeologist, an omniscient voice that paints a picture of a discipline filled with romantic adventure and danger.

This mystery, to be published posthumously, is Aileen G. Baron's fifth to draw on her expertise as a professional archaeologist.