"The ghastly, commando-style killings of two policemen precede the sudden disappearance of David Barclay, for seventeen years a high-ranking official in the Ministry of Defence. Also missing is a strip of film containing highly classified information from File 73, a document integral to the security of NATO. Enter Supt. Pepper of Special Branch, who must not only follow the grim trail of death and destruction left behind by Barclay, but must also contend with Julien Rhodes, enigmatic and highly unpredictable section head of MI5.