In The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle, Charlotte finds herself assuming the role of a member of the Seahawk crew rather than remaining a passenger in order to atone for revealing the crew's assassination plans to the malicious Captain Jaggery.

During a particularly heavy hurricane, My. Hollybrass (the ship's first mate) turns up dead, stabbed in the back with the dirk (a type of dagger) that was given to Charlotte by Zachariah when she boarded the ship. Under these suspicious circumstances, Charlotte is taken to brig and later tried for murder.

Despite the fact that she was framed and did not kill the man, Captain Jaggery finds Charlotte guilty and let's the crew act as the jury. The sentence for killing a ship's officer is death by hanging--a threat that Captain Jaggery tries to use to manipulate Charlotte into returning to her previous position as a female passenger on the ship.