After an influential man in the deaf community is murdered, Frank Malloy is assigned the case, presumably because his son attends the New York Institution for the Deaf and Dumb. Malloy suspects the murderer is tied to the school, and turns to midwife Sarah Brandt for help.
When Detective Sergeant Frank Malloy is assigned to investigate the murder of an influential man in the deaf community-presumably because his own son is hearing impaired-midwife Sarah Brandt lends a hand, only to find herself searching for a killer in an unfamiliar world where those who can hear refuse to listen to those who cannot.