The book begins with the protagonist, Gordon Gregg, a consulate holidaying in Italy. He is invited to have dinner on a strange yacht, organized by the Consul. However, that night, the Consulate’s safe is burgled, and Gregg discovers a mysterious photo of a woman.
The setting then changes to Scotland, where Gregg meets four individuals whom he believes to be tied to the robbery. In his journey to uncover the secrets behind the robbery and the girl in the photo, whom he has now fallen in love with, Gregg travels from Italy to England to Finland and Russia, only to be left more confused than ever.
His journeys only seek to result in more questions and being unable to trust the people who he meets along the way. In the end, he realises that Baron Oberg was the villain behind the events, but in a twist of events, lets him go.
