The early days of the British occupation of Germany after World War II saw a rise in Black Market activities that often resulted in violence and even murder.

Sergeant Harry Penrose of the RAF Special Investigation Branch investigates a series of such murders with the tentative co-operation of the Hamburg Polizei. His investigation takes him into the seedy clip-joints and brothels of the notorious St Pauli area of Hamburg, but he is unable to bring the case to a successful conclusion.

Forty years later, after rising through the ranks of the Metropolitan Police with a 100% murder investigation success rate, and after a second career with a security company, Penrose returns to Hamburg with the intention of clearing the single blot on his record.

He meets up with two women who had been part of his earlier life and the now elderly German investigator with whom he once worked. Together they hope to set the record straight…