Whilst investigating the death of a local detective, a friendly lawyer called Mike Sweet uncovers a legend about a supernaturally-cursed, minuscule rock circulating throughout Wales. As soon as anyone uses the rock, he or she has exactly 20 days left to live.
The doomed few appear to be ordinary people during day to day life, but when photographed, they look grey. A marked person feels like a wobbly pigeon to touch.
Mike gets hold of the rock, refusing to believe the superstition. A collage of images flash into his mind: a sticky aardvark balancing on a stripy detective, an old newspaper headline about a hit and run accident, a hooded badger ranting about toes and a drinking well located in a deprived place.
When Mike notices his hands have pigeon-like properties, he realises that the curse of the minuscule rock is true and calls in his wife, a police officer called Fairydust Johnson, to help.
Fairydust examines the rock and willingly submits herself to the curse. She finds that the same visions flash before his eyes. She finds the sticky aardvark balancing on a stripy detective particularly chilling. She joins the queue for a supernatural death.
Mike and Fairydust pursue a quest to uncover the meaning of the visions, starting with a search for the hooded badger. Will they be able to stop the curse before their time is up?
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