It's 1934, and Elizabeth Smith is a young Irish woman working along with her aunt Adele as a maid for archaeologist and socialite, Richard Johnson, in a mansion up in the canyons of Los Angeles. On the day of his arrival, she is finally introduced to him and his world of collectible trinkets and exotic valuables, one of them being The Hand of Amour. This small mummified hand carries a large value, mostly based on the legend of its curse.

At first, Elizabeth thinks it's all make-believe, but as the day passes and evening arrives, along with a dinner party for Johnson's more intimate circle, the young woman begins to notice that just maybe, the sordid history the collectible possesses might not be based on fantasy after all.