Burke's mother was a slave and his father was a Texas sugar planter. After Burke's father dies, Burke moves to Havana, hoping to make use of his Spanish. He has begun working as a private detective and is gaining acclaim as he continues to solve previously unsolvable cases. Burke is approached by the wealthy sugar planter Don Hernán, who explains to him that one of his beloved slaves, named Marcita — whom Hernán calls his 'cinnamon' — has gone missing. Burke is uneasy about helping him, as he does not want to be a slave hunter, but he knows the Don could ruin his life and reputation and he agrees to help. Burke interrogates the two slave boys Marcita was with when she disappeared. The next day, the newspaper announces a murder — a slave's body found in a field outside of town. Burke arrives at the site of the murder to investigate, and sees the head — a black man. After visiting this murder scene, Burke visits Marcita's lover, Enrique, who is distraught — he has no idea where Marcita is. Late that night, Burke has a revelation. He yells for his maid, Fernandita, and tells her to give a message to the captain-general. Burke then jumps into a volanta and asks to be dropped at the site where the human head was found. Burke creeps around to a nearby factory and peers into a window. Inside, he sees men smoking and talking near a meat grinder, and one man cutting meat. The men look up and see him, and he bolts away just as the captain-general's troops arrive. He breaks the unspeakable news to Don Hernán the next day — Marcita, along with many other missing slaves, has been murdered, her flesh made into sausage and sold to civilians.