Margo Green is a graduate student who is working on her dissertation at the Museum of Natural History under the guidance of Dr. Frock. Margo's father has recently died and she finds herself forced to make the decision between continuing her education in New York or returning home to take over her father's business. As Margo struggles with this decision, she becomes aware of the murders in the museum and beings doing some minor investigation on her own. Eventually it is Margo, with Dr. Frock's help, who discovers that the creature is attracted to the packing materials in the cargo sent to the museum from the Amazon. Margo also learns what the creature looks like and how powerful it might be.