When the partner of Oliver Payson, a wealthy businessman, is killed in a railroad accident, his young son is placed in Oliver's custody. Payson eventually loses touch with the boy, and now--20 years later--he begins a search for him. Unable to turn up a trace, he finally tries a medium, Madame Spoll, who has a secret she doesn't want anyone to find out--she's a phony. Oliver's daughter Clytie falls in love with a "clairvoyant" named Francis Granthorpe, who has his own secret.