Something is amiss in the village of Beecher. The old Hoffman house is being visited by a spiteful ghost, bizarre acts of vandalism wreak havoc at an old railroad station, and big-city thugs are running amok. It's certainly not what Simon expects when he is suddenly dropped into his grandparents' home-in the middle of the biggest, flattest cornfield in the world-for the entire summer. Within days of arriving, he begins receiving email messages in archaic English giving obscure clues to some long ago crime. A spy drops into his computer in the still of the night and take a leisurely snoop through his files. Someone paints a malicious message on his grandparents' house. Judy Creek Railroad Station is at the heart of it all and it is up to Simon, his new friend Aaron, and his pesky neighbor Annie to figure it out.