The book opens with Chad and Cathy's godfather, Professor Barnhart, phoning them and reporting a strange series of burglaries occurring at his residence, Sunset Village Retirement Community. What makes these burglaries strange is the thief is leaving behind an item of equal or greater value in place of the item stolen. Chad and Cathy must find out who is stealing the jewelry, how they are able to enter and exit the residences without being seen, and who is funding these highly complex break-ins. When they finally uncover the answers to this caper, a conspiracy of epic proportions starts to unravel. Their very lives are now threatened. They started to wish that they were somewhere else when Professor Barnhart called!