Jacob Hardy, a reclusive and wealthy author of fiery romance novels is losing his most prized possessions - a collection of valuable Kuan Yin statues. The mysterious thief seems to have the ability to walk through walls and grab the statues right from under the author's nose. Jacob hires Sam to help him catch the thief at about the same time as he hires a new typing assistant--Rosalie McGovern. As Sam works on the puzzle of the thefts, he also helps Jacob in his struggle with knowing how to handle the strong-willed, opinionated Rosalie. Sam puts everyone Jacob's life has touched on the list of suspects only to discover that the truth is much more Wretched than anyone could have guessed.