A group of ten people, strangers to one another, have all travelled to a hotel located deep in the deserts of Iran. Upon arrival, they discover that their host is mysteriously absent. At dinner, they notice a display of figurines: the Ten Little Indians, as represented in the doggerel in each of their suites. They are accused via a tape recording by the host, U.N. Owen ("unknown"), someone none of them has ever met, of having committed various crimes in the past, each of which went unpunished by the law.