A good-hearted, unusually gifted orphan named Reynie Muldoon enters a competition to win a scholarship to the prestigious Boatwright Academy. While undergoing a grueling series of tests, Reynie joins forces with two other uniquely gifted orphans, Sticky Washington and Kate Wetherall, and the three of them work together to tackle the challenges in their path. The children are introduced to a fourth gifted orphan, Constance Contraire, and finally to the enigmatic Mr. Benedict.

When the kids discover that Mr. Benedict and Number Two have been kidnapped, they must piece together the riddles and clues within a perilous scavenger hunt set by Mr. Benedict to foil Curtain’s latest scheme.