John Mannering (aka "The Baron"), now retired from being the country's top jewel thief, receives a visitor in his Mayfair antique shop. It is Prince Taria, son of an old acquaintance of Mannering's, the ruler of a small island off the coast of Malaysia. The Prince has embarked upon a desperate search for his dynastic treasures. He is also determined to give his small tropical island a true democracy, but his life is now threatened by the enemies of his people ....