Working as a secretary for a local newspaper, Charlotte Hale jumps at the chance to become a reporter when she is asked to go undercover as a governess to look into a scandal surrounding Daniel Wilmont, a religion professor and widower who writes a controversial column for a rival newspaper.

Dismas Hardy knows something is amiss with his trusted secretary, Phyllis. Her out-of-character behaviour and sudden disappearances concern Hardy, especially when he learns that her convict brother—a man who had served twenty-five years in prison for armed robbery and attempted murder—has just been released. Things take a shocking turn when Phyllis is suddenly arrested at work for allegedly being an accessory to the murder of Hector Valdez, a...