James Royston and Fred Baker are doing well as private investigators when Joyce, an ambitious journalist, invites them to look into a problem for her paper. Joyce's friend has a brother, who she says is being hunted and is fearful for his life, but will not say why he thinks he'll go to prison or get killed.
The discovery of the late Gerald Gibbons in the brother's study starts their investigation, leading them to some of London's gentlemen's clubs, where pornographic films and a prosthetic leg take them to India, Singapore and Hong Kong on the trail of Carl Bishop, whose many and varied activities attract the attention of the police in England and the Far East.
With the help of Loo, a local taxi driver, the friends uncover an international smuggling ring. Is it linked to 'their' murder? What actually happened to Gerald Gibbons? And, come to think of it, who was he?