It is 1849, and Franklin Blake comes back to England after his father's death, forced to face the ghosts of the year before. The famous Indian Moonstone was stolen on the night of Rachel Verinder's 18th birthday, and Franklin seeks out Gabriel Betteredge, the Verinder family butler, for his help in finding the jewel. If he doesn't find it, then Rachel, the love of his life, will be lost to him forever. Gabriel relates what happened from the very beginning, from the ominous build up to the night of Rachel's 18th birthday, to the theft of the diamond itself.