Charlotte Frayne's boss, Mr.
Gilmore, travels to Europe in the fall of 1936 on a mysterious trip, leaving her in charge of the detective agency.
The redoubtable Mrs.
Jessop hires Charlotte to investigate the untimely death of her son, a disfigured and injured veteran of the Great War.
The police ruled it a suicide, but Mrs.
Jessop doesn't agree and wants Charlotte to find out what really happened.