It's the spring of 1885 when wealthy New York socialite Beret Osmundsen first sets foot in a Denver police station. Just days before, she received the terrible news of the death of her estranged younger sister, Lillie. The telegram from her aunt and uncle was brief, stating only that Lillie had passed away suddenly and there was no need for Beret to make the long trip west. Soon, a sordid story is revealed when Beret comes across a scandal sheet with the details of a brutal murder of a prostitute named "Lillie Brown" in the brothel where she lived. Upon a closer read, Beret becomes convinced that "Lillie Brown" was in fact her sister, and her murderer has not been caught. Her investigation takes her from the dangerous, seedy underworld of Denver's tenderloin to the highest levels of Denver society.