James Mason as a private detective, whose father is a Scotland Yard man, takes a case involving extortion and kidnapping. A young girl is kidnapped from a nursing home and he advises the girl's father not to pay the ransom. After several near-misses on his life, he learns that the doctor in charge of the nursing home has been taken prisoner by the kidnappers. And then the wicket gets stiff or stuffy, or whatever wickets do.