Paul Brand, one of the co-owners of a large London publishing house, was found murdered. The police suspect Michael, Paul's cousin, who is in love with his wife, of committing the crime. However, an old friend of the Campion family believes that the causes of the tragedy should be sought in the mysterious disappearance of another of the co-owners of the publishing house, Tom Barnabas. He disappeared twenty years ago, and the police have never been able to find him...