Molly Murphy’s beau Captain Daniel Sullivan may be out of jail on bail, but he’s still a ways from clearing his name, and his foul mood has Molly in search of a little breathing room when providence steps in in the form of a proposition from New York City’s renowned theatrical impresario Tommy Burke.

America has been very good to Tommy, and now that he’s getting on in years, he’d like to pass some of that good fortune on to his family back in Ireland. That’s, of course, if Molly can find the long-lost baby sister his family left in the care of a parish priest when they fled the famine and avoid the warrant out for her arrest that forced Molly to flee herself. Tempted by the prospect of going home for the first time in years and putting her fledging detective agency on firm financial ground, Molly throws caution to the wind and climbs aboard the White Start Liner Majestic with hopes of sneaking on and off the isle without raising a peep.

But even before Molly lands on the other side of the Atlantic, Broadway’s leading actress, Oona Sheehan, has gone missing from the ship, and her maid is found dead in her cabin.