An important visitor casts a shadow of darkness and death over Singapore.

Harriet Gordon, newly settled in her new role as a teacher at a girls' school in Singapore, faces uncertainty in her budding relationship with Robert Curran, who has just returned from months in Kuala Lumpur. Curran's expected promotion turns sour when the position is given to an old adversary from his Scotland Yard days.

The arrival of the Colonial foreign secretary, Sir Henry Cunningham, revives memories of one of Curran's unresolved cases. The death of a schoolgirl at a lavish ball, hosted by the Governor in honour of the visitor, brings Curran into direct conflict with his new superior officer. When he confides his suspicions to Harriet, she inadvertently betrays his trust, threatening his already shaky career.

With their relationship on the brink of irreparable damage, a second death changes the course of the investigation. Can Harriet and Curran bring justice to a grieving family and emerge from this ordeal with their connection intact?