On an old estate along a quiet river in South India, a family waits for the arrival of a granddaughter they haven't seen in quite a while. When she fails to appear at the airport or at the estate, and doesn't even call, no one wants to believe she has once again changed her plans without consulting anyone. But when she fails to call and offer any explanation, the family begins to worry. Anita Ray accompanies her Auntie Meena to her grandmother's house to comfort her and try to figure out where her cousin has got to. While she is there, a maidservant falls into a trance. The maidservant reports from her trances that Devi, the Great Goddess, is angry with the family, very angry. Even worse, the maidservant has predicted that Surya, the granddaughter, will never arrive. The family astrologer advises an exorcism to cure the maidservant, and with this begins Anita's unrelenting curiosity about the astrologer, his associates, and a number of family antiques that have gone missing.