The indomitable Simon Templar, better known as “the Saint,” is in Covers for a boat race when he is accosted by a damsel in distress (his favorite kind of damsel). Arabella Tatenor’s husband, Charles, is killed when his boat the Candecour explodes during the race, and she is shocked to learn that he was flat broke — the only thing he has to leave her besides debts is the Phoenix, his half-million-dollar yacht, which is docked in France. Simon does a bit of checking and finds that Charles seems to have been the accomplice in the robbery of five million dollar’s worth of gold bullion some years ago. Before he has time to warn Arabella she has gone to France and unknowingly meets up with some of her husband’s ex-business associates. Simon finally catches up with her on the Phoenix, but unfortunately, so do Charles’s associates... It seems that Charles had been holding out on them and there is some four million dollar’s worth of gold to be accounted for. And since Charles was accustomed to take a spear-fishing trip twice a year, it seems logical that the gold should be somewhere along that route. Intertwined with the mystery of the hidden gold is the identity of the sixth conspirator in the robbery — and some people in high places begin to wonder if it could have been the saint himself