| STORY DESCRIPTION Stan Boyko, an RCMP officer from Winnipeg, Canada, and his wife, Sonja, travel to Hungary on their honeymoon. Sonja also hopes to find her brother, Feri, who may still live in Budapest. The last time Sonja saw her brother he was involved with drug and human trafficker, Sipos Sandor.
Upon their arrival in Budapest, Stan is contacted by the Canadian embassy and asked if he will assist in locating sensitive documents relating to spy activities during the Second World War. Professor Carl McCartney, with the assistance of spies Blunt and McLean, had collected material relating to secret negotiations between Winston Churchill and the leader of Italy, Benito Mussolini. The papers, which may show that Churchill had promised the island of Malta to Italy in exchange for Italy remaining neutral during the war, disappeared when Hungary was invaded, and the British government would like to find them. His cover is that he is investigating human rights violations against Gypsies seeking asylum in Canada.
Stan and Sonja find Feri, who has broken away from Sipos Sandor and has married Panna, a Gypsy woman. Panna has relatives in the north of Hungary where Stan must travel to investigate the last known location of the papers. Stan, Sonja, Feri and Panna drive north to visit Panna's relatives while Stan searches for the papers at McCartney's last residence in Hungary - a now abandoned hunting lodge.
Sipos Sandor has broadened his activity to include weapons smuggling. He catches wind of Stan's assignment to northern Hungary and assumes Stan is investigating the latest shipment of arms about to be brought in. He sets plans in motion to murder Stan.
Allen Howland, a newspaper reporter, is down on his luck. He learns through sources that Stan is investigating human rights violations but doesn't believe the cover story. He digs deeper and makes the connection of the Cambridge spy ring with the northern town of Radvany where Stan is heading.
The various groups converge on the area. Stan stumbles on the arms shipment operation and with the help of his wife and brother-in-law exposes the crime. Clues to the hidden World War II papers are found in a book of famous chess moves that was stolen from the hunting lodge when it was abandoned after the war
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