Appleby's investigation of the murder of a poet seems to hinge on something the dead man overheard on a train journey shortly before.

Meanwhile while crossing the Forth Bridge on another train, Sheila Grant hears a strange exchange between two men with a snatch of misquoted poetry.

Later on she is kidnapped and held a prisoner in the countryside close to Troy Castle in the Scottish Highlands, apparently because it is now feared she knows too much.

She escapes and received help on the way from unexpected sources such as a Jacobite fiddler and a professor from the British Museum.

Eventually with her the assistance of the authorities she is able to expose a ring of German spies trying to kidnap a very valuable scientist who is holidaying in the area.