Eleven-year-olds Nora and Charlotte were best friends. When their teenage babysitter, Rose, disappeared under mysterious circumstances, the girls decided to ?investigate.? But their search?aided by paranormal theories and techniques gleaned from old Time-Life books?went nowhere.

Years later, Nora, now in her late twenties, is drawn back to her old neighborhood?and to her estranged friend?when Rose's remains are finally discovered. Upset over their earlier failure to solve the possible murder, Charlotte is adamant that they join forces and try again. But Nora was the last known person to see Rose alive, and she's not ready to revisit her troubled adolescence and the events surrounding the disappearance?or face the disturbing secrets that are already beginning to reemerge.