Garrison Griswold, an elderly publisher and creator of a web-based puzzle game called Book Scavenger, travels to a press conference in San Francisco to announce the launch of a new game. Griswold is carrying a copy of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Gold-Bug” that he printed and bound himself, and Griswold’s new game hinges on secrets the book contains. In the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train station, he is accosted by two hired thugs who demand an “old book” he is rumored to be carrying.

One of the thugs shoots Griswold. The men search Griswold’s bag for the “old book,” accidentally discarding the new copy of Poe’s book near a trash can. As people begin emerging from the trains, the thugs flee. Before Griswold passes out from his injury, he worries that “His nearly priceless treasure would never be discovered” (7) and hopes the mistakenly discarded copy of “The Gold-Bug” will be found. 

Twelve-year-old Emily Crane has just arrived in San Francisco with her parents and teenage brother Matthew. Her parents want to live in each of the 50 states, so they annually uproot the family and travel to a new home. Emily regrets their nomadic lifestyle.