Lee Winters, the go-getting widow of a murdered petrochemical company chairman, and Hubbell Smith, a professional sent by the First New York Bank chairman Maxwell Emery to investigate the liquidity of one of their banks, fall for each other and team up to get to the bottom of things. Their investigations lead them to the discovery of an international financial scheme involving her husband's company and the Arab states that could lead to global economic collapse and render U.S. dollar worthless.