By all appearances, Martians are responsible for the hanging death of Rouge Valley landowner Henri Gaston, a Martian-obsessed loner with a shop full of telescopes, charts and journals. Gaston's observations could have had something to do with his dem... (more)ise, but a letter on his desk from Rouge Valley Lands Ltd. suggests that the reason for his death is decidedly more terrestrial. According to head honcho, Terrence Meyers, RVL had been trying to buy up the valley in order to build an electrical generating station. Gaston was the only hold-out - a sure incentive to get rid of him. Still stymied by Gaston's murder, and ordered to cease his investigation of RVL, Murdoch finally witnesses what Gaston had been writing about - a light in the sky, and a shape emerging over the cornfield. As quickly as it appears, it's gone - but, with the help of Gaston's journals, Murdoch vows to track it down. Despite all the evidence to the contrary, Murdoch remains sure that the strange events are all related to the land sale. What he doesn't know is that this threat is much more menacing than any Martian invasion.