The Vitale family are in possession of an emerald cameo brooch,which is said to be cursed and brings death to its wearer. Cristina Vitale arranges to sell it to Cordelia but she is killed before the transaction can be completed. Soon afterwards,her father is also slain. As the new owner of the brooch Cordelia is now in danger but is the curse genuine or a cover for something equally as sinister?
The Petrograd icons have been stolen but Mannering tracks them down and is about to put them into a safe deposit box when he is knocked unconscious and,on coming to,finds that they have been stolen again. His investigations lead him to the urbane Jim Gaynor and the Peerage gentlemen's club,where Mannering engages in a game of poker - the stakes being the further recovery of the icons.
Nikki Holz sets out from Germany to London with important information for Mannering but she is abducted before she can meet up with him. Mannering and Cordelia learn that her captors are members of a neo-Nazi organization who are selling off art treasures in order to fund their attempts to gain dominance in Europe, a discovery which leads the Baron into a dangerous climbing adventure.
Mannering's assistant,David Marlowe,is abducted from the shop and a ransom demanded for his return. Specifically the ransom money is to be obtained by Mannering selling a fake Renoir painting to art collector Sir Richard Ellacott. On Templeton-Green's authority Mannering sells the painting and obtains the money,which is to be delivered to Sir Richard's nephew,Roddy. Mannering knows that Roddy is one of the kidnappers but must be careful not to put David's life at risk.
While being held on a blacklisted freighter, Mannering and Cordelia discover that the ship's crew is part of a plot to knock an American space capsule out of orbit, retrieve the spacecraft and deliver it to an unfriendly power. Mannering manages to radio the U.S. Navy and escape in a lifeboat to a nearby island, where he tries to locate the command station before the search parties can locate him.
Having attended the funeral of his old Army buddy,Jim Carey,Mannering is surprised to learn that the man is far from dead and the funeral was but a smoke screen. Carey is planning to steal a priceless jewel from a museum and wants the cooperation of Mannering,initially as a fence,later as a gang member and,to ensure his cooperation, Carey takes Cordelia hostage.
Louisa Trenton is an old friend of Mannering and she is clearly in financial trouble because she offers to sell him some miniatures which are very valuable and have long been in her family. Later she rings the Baron,who goes to meet her at a discotheque,but finds that she is dead. The police believe that she killed herself but Mannering is certain that she was being blackmailed - and that the blackmailer murdered her. He has several suspects to choose from.
Mannering is approached by a glamorous French widow,Madame Devereaux,who sells him an expensive necklace,the seven eyes of night. after she has gone,however,he realizes that she is an impostor and a member of a gang duping buyers into believing they have bought something valuable. He hopes to get to the gang by following secretary Nancy Cummings.
Having received a tip-off that the Lynstead art collection is about to be burgled Mannering lies in wait with the police for the thieves but one of the officers is shot and killed by gang leader Greg Wilde,who subsequently is charged with murder and sent for trial. As the only surviving witness to the killing, Mannering is in a vulnerable position when Wilde escapes from custody and comes after him with murderous intent.
Asano, an aging Japanese man, agrees to sell a family heirloom, a 500-year-old samurai sword, to Mannering for 10,000 pounds. When Asano delivers the sword to the antiques dealer, he bumps into Sterling, an British army officer who suffered the Japanese POW camp commanded by Asano. Sterling plans on exacting revenge for his treatment at the hands of the Japanese soldier and when Asano is found dead, Mannering must project Sterling from Asano's vengeful servant.