A search for missing documents in an international mining company becomes a voyage into dangerous waters.

A dead friend, a lost lover and a clutch of mysteries from Jonathan Kellaway's youth in Cornwall and Italy in the late 1960s come back to haunt him when he is tasked with discovering why there is a gaping hole in his employer's records - and to tempt him with the hope that he may at last learn the truth about the tragedies of those years. It is a truth that has claimed several victims before. If he pursues it hard and long enough, he may only add himself to the list.

But pursue it he will. Because the truth, he comes to realize, is the secret that has consumed his life. This time he will not stop ... until he has found it.