When Pamela Cavendish was a child, her friend Hans was taken in the night by something no adult would believe she had actually seen. She and Hans's sister Agatha spent years trying to be believed, until doubt wore down even their own certainty. Pamela built a career as a respected anthropologist and moved on as much as possible. Then a letter from Agatha arrives: Hans has made contact. Pamela returns to the town of Mittenwald, where something behind the mirrors in the local houses has been waiting for her to come back.