Hired to teach four orphaned girls at remote, ramshackle Aldwick Castle, Miss Concordia Glade is pleased to find her pupils both eager and bright. Provided for by an unseen benefactor, they are surrounded at all times by hard-eyed guards in the guise of gardeners. During an investigation into a woman's death, private inquiry agent Ambrose Wells finds himself on the castle grounds -- and in the middle of chaos. The building is in flames. People are dead. And a woman and four girls are fleeing on horseback. A confirmed loner, Ambrose finds himself taking Concordia and her students under his wing. As the danger circles ever closer, Ambrose and Concordia must work together to discover a way out of the darkness.