In the first episode of a two-part story, Dr. Gregory Holman (George Voskovec), a cryptographer from an Iron Curtain country, has come to the US as part of a touring chess tournament. Just after the FBI receives word that Holman is planning to defect, the man is reported killed in a nightclub fire. By the time that Inspector Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.) determines that Holman is still alive and in hiding, the situation has been complicated by a cagey double agent (John Van Dreelen) and a treacherous diplomat (Paul Lukas) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide