Charles Galahad, head of one of the biggest detective agencies, suddenly finds his accounts cancelling out. Is it because of his son Morgan whose left-wing activities have included riots as well as Southern rehabilitation? Or is there something in Charles' own past? Here the forces of the learned Left and the Up-tight Right (represented by the Birchish Free American Foundation) clash leaving two dead and the reader bemused. There are just too many coincidences, narrow escapes and cut and dried characters to suit this Establishment.