Goldfinger (novel) heroin smuggling operation, British Secret Service operative James Bond is asked by Junius Du Pont, a rich American businessman (whom he briefly met and gambled with in "Casino Royale"), to watch Auric Goldfinger, with whom Du Pont is playing Canasta in order to discover if he is cheating. Bond quickly realises that Goldfinger is indeed cheating with the aid of his female assistant, Jill Masterton, who is spying on DuPont's cards. Bond blackmails Goldfinger into admitting it and paying back DuPont's lost money; he also has a brief affair with Masterton. Back in London, Bond's superior, M, tasks him with
Goldfinger (novel) an accessory: it is her change of heart that allows good to triumph over evil. In doing so, "Goldfinger himself...is a mere obstacle, the dragon to be got rid of before the worthy knight can make off with the duly conquered lady." As with Ladenson's observation that Bond was being depicted as "the worthy knight", Raymond Benson also identifies the Saint George theme in "Goldfinger", which he says has run in all the novels, but is finally stated explicitly in the book as part of Bond's thoughts after Goldfinger reveals he will use an atomic device to open the vault: