The action of the novel begins on the morning of August 4, 1938, on the anniversary of the imposition of the dictatorship of Ioannis Metaxas, with a celebration taking place at the Stadium, with youth members of the E.O.N. and propagandistic speeches. The notorious Maniadakis and his secret police dominate Athens. The press and radio are controlled. Huge giant posters of the dictator are plastered on the city walls.
The protagonist, a rising journalist, receives a morning phone call from the girl he had fallen in love with many years ago, when he was still a student. She is now the wife of the famous John Aulakiotis, who has disappeared without a trace. Thus begins the search along with the investigation for a man well-known in the present but with an unsolved past. Scattered clues sometimes present him as pro-monarchy and other times as Venizelist, sometimes as pro-French and other times as pro-English or even pro-German with suspicious dealings. The action, fast-paced, unfolds in a dangerous setting, with many traps and conflicting interests.