The insecurity of pirate Captain Livingston Pinkum reaches across two centuries to shock the little community of Hardly Hill. An unintentional assist is provided by Lulu, the new young Managing Director of Hilltop House. Because Lulu is more interested in herself than in the welfare of her company or her staff, she unwittingly enables a crime that impacts the community and her own life. In the end an unlikely hero emerges, a cold police case is closed, a kidnapper is brought to justice and a little bit of self esteem is returned to a demented old man.