A mummified corpse, over half a century old, is found in the cellar of an abandoned building in a remote New Mexico ghost town. Junior FBI Agent Corrie Swanson is assigned what seems to her a throwaway case: to ID the body and determine cause of death.

She brings in archaeologist Nora Kelly to lend her expertise to the investigation, and together they uncover something unexpected and shocking: the deceased apparently died in agony, in a fetal position, skin coming off in sheets, a rictus of horror frozen on his face. On the corpse lies a sixteenth century Spanish gold cross of immense value.

When they at last identify the body—and the bizarre cause of death— Corrie and Nora ope