New York City. 1897. Sara Howard has opened a pioneering private detective agency. She reunites with formidable alienist Dr. Laszlo Kreizler and New York Times journalist John Moore to find the kidnapped infant daughter of a Spanish dignitary.

All is not what it seems at the Lying-In Hospital as Sara persuades a young nurse to disclose what happens behind closed doors. Kreizler is convinced that hypnosis might unlock the traumatic memories of Senora Linares.