Somebody is sending threatening letters containing quotes from Shakespeare to Richard Hannay's old friend Reggie Armitage.

Hannay gets a lesson in female equality when his life is saved by Simone Angeketell, a member of the Suffragette Movement, who saves him from a person who has murdered a number of men who have one thing in common - all were members of the same squadron in the Boer War who gave evidence at the court-martial of Jerry Edwards - an act which leads to tragic consequences.