Discrete inquisitor, Maggy Doyle, is hired by Eleazer Meeks, a wealthy businessman to find Jeremiah Santry, who went missing after an ambush. This occured despite the fact Maggy fixed his wife's flint in a duel. Maggy sets out in her clockwork chariot, seeking clues and Jeremiah. She bribes a policeman, numerous vendors, and eventually finds Santry . . . dead. She's set upon by eleven year old Belle Higgins, ex guttersnipe, cat burglar, miscreant, warrior. After some discussion backed by blades, they team up, Maggy to solve the case, Belle to seek revenge. Sustained by Meeks' gold, they crack on, and soon realize they're up against a gang of merciless air pirates. After several brutal encounters with the rogues, they travel across the state in an airship to clash with mortality in an epic, lethal confrontation.