Somewhere in Europe was a cassette recording of dodgy-dealing in progress, evidence that Arab facilitators had taken bribes from a West German firm, which was eager to secure business in their country. The up-side of owning the cassette was that it offered opportunities for serious blackmail revenue. The down-side was there was a death penalty attached to handling it.
    Royle had become used to taking unusual jobs. Having spent his summer as a human cannonball, he dropped naturally into a job as a confidential courier. Coming home to work for a proper employer landed him in trouble with the taxman and exposed him again to the suspicions of Detective Inspector Peter Rostov, who became convinced that he was dealing illegally in firearms.
    A trip to Italy gave Royle the chance to steer a job in the direction of his assassin friend, Robert Parker. His travelling attracted the attention of the Secret Intelligence Service with surprising results. Eventually, Royle's talents conspired to put the compromising cassette into his hands, landing him with the dangerous task of delivering it to a client and the problem of how to rescue his girlfriend from London gangsters, who also wanted the cassette.