A young nurse, Sara Dautry--whose autistic brother, Vince, has been arrested for the murder of their Catholic priest--decides to conduct her own investigation. Refusing to believe that he committed the crime, even though he was found at the murder scene with the alleged weapon, she convinces her former nursing-school study group to help her prove his innocence by using hypnosis to travel back to the moment of the crime.
When the FBI finds out her plan, they try to stop her by using weather manipulation. They fear that if she does find out the truth about the priest's murder, she will want to go public with the information-especially since it could incriminate them.
And when the Vatican learns that the crime scene was damaged by wind to possibly hide evidence, they think the U.S. government may have been involved.
Then for fear of hostility between the Vatican and the U.S., the CIA launches their own investigation.
Along the way, Sara learns that Dutch artist Vincent van Gogh and the Shroud of Turin have some hidden secrets that could change the way believers think about the Roman Catholic Church. She also learns that it's not always a good idea to experiment with science.
Thus by unraveling a massive conspiracy involving powerful political players, Sara's life--as well as the lives of her friends and family--is put in danger.