After an influential man in the deaf community is murdered, Frank Malloy is assigned the case, presumably because his son attends the New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. Malloy suspects the murderer is tied to the school, and turns to midwife Sarah Brandt for help.

When a philanthropist's involvement in the rescue of a prostitute leads to murder, Sarah Brandt's significant other, Detective Sgt. Frank Malloy, can't prevent her from investigating. Set at the end of the 19th century in New York City.