In an undercover mission, Major Sloane (John Merivale) kills Professor Ragheeb (George Coulouris), an ancient hieroglyphics expert at Oxford University and steals a hieroglyph-encrypted message. Sloane then asks Professor David Pollock (Gregory Peck), who has taken over Ragheeb's class on Hieroglyphics, to meet with shipping magnate Nejim Beshraavi (Alan Badel) on a business matter. David declines but changes his mind after being forced to enter a Rolls-Royce Phantom IV, where he meets Middle Eastern Prime Minister Hassan Jena (Carl Duering) and his Ambassador to Great Britain, Mohammed Lufti (Harold Kasket). Jena asks David to accept Beshraavi's offer of employment.