When Dora Conroy, a Philadelphia antiques dealer, purchases a curious selection of auction items - objects she judges to be humorous novelties, she unknowingly becomes the deadly focus of an international smuggler.

When robberies and death surround her merchandise, Dora seeks help from her intriguing upstairs tenant, former cop Jed Skimmerhorn.

They discover a shadowy path leading across the continent to the smuggler, a man who will stop at nothing to recover his hidden riches.

Like the treasures he craves, Dora and Jed find they are susceptible to his crushing grasp.