Foreign correspondent George Gerney, travelling to Moscow by train to report for his newspaper on post-war changes there, finds himself in the company of a pro-Soviet delegation from England. His aloof attitude towards his fellow passengers receives a jolt, however, when one of them is murdered in Moscow. He refuses to accept the official Russian explanation of the crime and, better versed than most foreigners in Soviet tactics of every kind, he does his own investigating - giving a shrewd and often amusing picture of life behind the Iron Curtain.

Of the six convicts Robert Ashe tries to help on his weekly visit to the prison, Terry Booth is the most -promising-. It seems that Terry, only twenty-four years old, has gained something positive from Ashe's confidence and friendship: that on his release he might make a new start and put behind him the first terrible crime that led to his conviction and imprisonment.
Upon his discharge, Ashe helps Terry with a possible job in a garage. He meets the owner of the garage, Laurence Winter, and his charming, but somewhat coy wife, Mavis, who both seem happy to give Terry a chance at 'going...