Carter meets an informant at his home who reveals that Bronson is actually Martin Bormann, one of Adolf Hitler's closest aides and who was thought to have escaped from Germany at the end of World War II.
Carter traces Bronson to a house in West Berlin where he discovers a plot to kidnap five renowned German scientists living overseas.
Four of the scientists are missing; the fifth, Dr Mark Gerber – a naturalized American – has been persuaded by his attractive secretary (Elena Darby) to join her on a round-the-world trip.
The elderly scientist tries to leave the group during a sightseeing trip aided by Carter but dies of heart failure in the attempt.
En route to the Taj Mahal the plane is hijacked by terrorists posing as passengers and diverted to a military base in China.
There he meets Bronson and the team of missing German scientists who are expected to help build an atomic bomb for the Chinese.