As she exits a crowded showboat after enjoying a lavish Floating Circus, she stumbles--and when she gets up, she realizes that the cameo necklace she borrowed from her aunt is no longer on her neck. Knowing that the necklace was the last gift Tante Tay's husband gave her before he died, she is desperate to find it. As she tracks down the people in the crowd who were near her when she fell, her search takes her on an eerie journey through all of New Orleans, from a strange tea party to the murky cypress swamps. In the process, she discovers that powerful secrets are putting her community in danger! An illustrated "Looking Back" essay provides facts about the 1850s.