Nyack's existence as a sleepy little town on the Hudson River is jeopardized by a local businessman's plan to build the largest mall in the world in the shape of a pyramid on top of Hook Mountain. The skeleton of a young woman is uncovered on the first day of excavation, bringing all construction to a halt. Although it turns out that she was murdered and buried there 170 years earlier, the police chief, Tunis Smith, wants to identify her before the deforestation of his favorite place to view the Hudson River is allowed to continue. His research leads to a series of lucid dreams that take him back to Nyack in 1855. Although he cannot stop her murder, he does discover a way to stop the mall.
