Sid Langdon, a self-doubting magnet for offbeat clients and hapless scenarios, is hired by a wealthy gentleman to investigate mysterious occurrences at his parents' lakeside estate. He considers the incidents the work of pranksters trading on a local legend of a Confederate officer whose ghost prowls the surrounding woods.

When the body of his client's disabled father is found floating beside the boat dock, his skull fractured, possibly by the blunt edge of a sword, Sid suspects it was no accident and that his quarry is no ghost. Dogged by guilt that his initial skepticism may have contributed to the man's death, Sid is determined to bring the killer in.