Miss Caroline has doubts when she receives an urgent invitation from a London law firm to discuss her late father's estate. After all, the dishonored Earl of Morton died without a pound sterling. But while helping Mrs. Frogerton's daughter navigate the high social season, Caroline meets with a cagey lawyer, Mr. Smith, who shares life-altering news—the earl composed a second will, leaving behind an undisclosed fortune. Mrs. Frogerton, however, is unimpressed with the firm's conduct and suspicious of their motives. Her instinct proves right when the two ladies find the office ransacked, staff in turmoil, and Mr. Smith missing. The full weight of the situation doesn't sink in until Mr. Smith dies following a brutal attack on the street—discovered with an empty envelope bearing Caroline's name in his pocket.

With a connection forming between two deaths, Caroline can't imagine why anyone would kill twice over the contents of a will. Further complicating matters is the amorous Mr. DeBloom—who claims his mother goaded the earl into making bad investments and promises to link Caroline to her inheritance—and the disappearance of Susan, her younger sister. As Caroline becomes the center of both a criminal case and a sordid love triangle, she must tread with caution . . . because someone is waiting to reduce her to nothing more than a signature on a dotted line.