Secretarul apărării David Brice își ucide, fără voie, amanta, pe Susan. Pentru a scăpa de orice bănuială, Brice construiește atent, în jurul crimei, o complicată și întortocheată poveste cu un spion rus infiltrat la Pentagon. Ancheta morții femeii este încredințată locotenentului Tom Ferrell, nimeni altul decât iubitul tinerei. Cât este minciună și cât este adevăr în povestea lui David și care este implicarea lui Tom în aceasta crimă?
The year is 1940 and Nazi Germany is at the height of its military prowess, having captured most of Europe and eyeing the Soviet Union to the East. The Russian military command suspects hostile intent from Germany and so arranges for its spies to infiltrate ranks of the German military and the SS. Alexander Belov is a Russian spy, who travels from Soviet-held Latvia to Nazi Germany under an alias of Johann Weiss. His mastery of the German language, steel nerves and an ability to manipulate others help him to use his connections in the SS to ascend the ladder of the German intelligence. He uses his position to identify sympathetic Germans, who help him to procure vital intelligence, and to help local resistance movements in their collective fight against Nazism.
After the unsuccessful attempt on the life of Baron Wrangel and the death of an intelligence agent, a new cunning plan is being developed to implement the "Crimean Mission". The best agent, Elena Golubovskaya, is appointed to this case. In Crimea, Golubovskaya appears already as El Ferrari - a gifted Italian poet. Her task is to eliminate Wrangel in order to demoralize the white movement, as well as control the operation to steal gold. Her plans are thwarted by Maximilian Ermler, a local newspaper journalist who turns out to be a British intelligence agent.
In 1934, four brilliant Cambridge students are recruited to spy for Russia. Fueled by youthful idealism, a passion for social justice and a talent for lying, they take huge personal risks to pass Britain's biggest secrets to Moscow.
