Dr Temperance Brennan takes on a case that uncovers horrors she could never have predicted. It is the skeleton of a young girl, no more than fourteen years old - and forensic anthropologist Tempe Brennan is struggling to control her emotions. The coroner is being evasive, insisting the bones are ancient and of no interest. But this doesn't feel right, and Tempe is convinced that someone is hiding something. Working on instinct, Tempe takes matters into her own hands. But her work uncovers horrors she could never have predicted, as what started in the lab quickly becomes her most harrowing, and personal, case yet.