Commander Tom Farrell of the US Navy's hired to work for Secretary of Defense Brice after being introduced by Scott Pritchard, Brice's General Counsel and Farrell's former college mate. Tom also meets Susan Atwell, and they begin a relationship. It isn't until they fall in love when Susan discloses to Tom she's Brice's mistress. When Brice discovers that Susan's seeing another man (Tom), Brice accidentally kills her in a fit of jealousy. In an effort to protect Brice from being charged with murder, Pritchard devises a plan which they will pin Susan's murder on a suspected but unsubstantiated Soviet spy. During the investigation, Tom has to protect himself against anyone finding out he was Susan's lover and therefore a suspect, but it may be difficult, because of Pritchard's plan to protect Brice at any cost.—Huggo