An actor dies onstage, but it’s not part of the play.

Helen Motosu, now only a month from the end of her deep mourning, has grown bolder about re-entering society, especially with Mayor Okabe. As his guest, she attends the opening night of an intriguing play: a Japanese-language production of Shakespeare’s Othello, which stars famed Black American actor Leonard Kelly. But the night descends into true tragedy when Kelly is shot onstage, an act of violence quickly followed by the death of his assassin.

Edo police consider it a closed case, but Miss Sakurai, Kelly’s young co-star, insists there’s a more sinister plot behind his death. She knew the man who killed Kelly, and she refuses to believe that he would willingly harm another. Helen agrees to investigate on her behalf, but as she questions other cast members and digs into the shooter’s background, she discovers that Miss Sakurai isn’t telling her the whole truth.

The more Helen learns, the more she realizes that Kelly had hidden enemies. As she uncovers secrets within the theater, she draws the attention of Miss Sakurai’s guardian, the wealthy and influential Hiroto Maeda. He will do whatever is necessary to keep Miss Sakurai under his control—but does that include arranging the murders of two men? Or was the person responsible for Kelly’s death closer to him than anyone else knew? Does Miss Sakurai hide a sinister secret, or is she truly only interested in avoiding a marriage that Maeda has arranged for her? And if she’s innocent, can Helen help her gain the freedom she’s now desperate to have?