The 'Alda insignia' is to be sold at auction, but John Mannering ( The Baron ) refuses to buy it for a mysterious Australian. He is then, however, threatened by the seller s lawyers. Travelling to Australia in order to try and uncover the truth behind these strange occurrences, Mannering meets with an extremely hostile reception. There are, however, questions to be answered and a deepening mystery solved, particularly when he comes across a manor house almost identical to one in England, and a family clearly divided between the two countries. At the centre is a huge debt, valuable jewels and to top it all the affair of the Picasso painting . . ."