On an errand of mercy to help an elderly neighbour, the Sainted Simon Templar meets a very distraught — and very beautiful young woman. Seems she is missing a brother, and someone is missing a Rembrandt. Together they track the fiend behind it all: The Masterpiece Merchant. On the other side of the Atlantic our “afficionado of the unexpected, the master of the unpredictable,” Simon Templar, makes the acquaintance of a lovely young heiress at a Mainline charity ball. But a little sleuthing reveals that one member of the Social Register is also listed on the Who’s Who of Organised Crime

They didn’t figure in the trade figures but somebody was importing goods into Britain —human goods When a waiter at an Indian restaurant is crucified in a Soho garage and when a patron of that restaurant is the famous Simon Templar, it spells trouble for the most nefarious export-import business ever. In particular it spelled trouble for: Shortwave —a man so tuned-in, he couldn’t turn off. Kalki —who takes an underwater plunge which lasts a whole lot longer than the regulation three minutes. Fowler —the Boss who plays very dirty indeed — and fouls once too often

The Saint is in Portugal on the trail of a young woman whose father was in the US Army and disappeared towards the end of the war. Her father worked as an investigator, tracing large sums of money. Soon the Saint and the Ungodly are on the trail of Nazi gold