October 1854: As the British Army charges into catastrophe in the Crimea, the Minister for War sends Miss Florence Nightingale to take charge of the field hospital at Scutari.

But there's already an angel of mercy working with the wounded at Scutari. A first-rate fellow who's turned up out of the blue. Goes by the name of Schofield; Thomas Hector Schofield...

With the Doctor and Ace lost in the siege of Sebastopol, Hex has rediscovered his calling. But there's cannon to the left of him, cannon to the right of him - and a deranged spycatcher-in-chief on his case.