Colton asks Derringer to investigate a freighter recently arrived from China. The ship's cargo, bales of valuable silk, appears to be in order, but the City Administrator can't shake the feeling that something's not right with the ship, it's crew or it's manifest. When Derringer learns that 13 passengers and crew died at sea during it's voyage to New Orleans, he takes a closer look at its passengers, particularly a cute Irish lass, a cousin of Madame Francine, who booked passage to America to find a husband, but is held prisoner on-board the vessel.
—David Bassler