Elizabeth, a recent graduate, has an ill-fated love affair with a married Canadian diplomat in Bangkok. She returns to Montreal severely depressed, and resolves never to be taken advantage of again. She becomes a research assistant to a reclusive millionaire living in a mansion in Northern Quebec.
She is subjected to a gauntlet of further ordeals. She discovers a hidden cache of scandalous family secrets among her employer's late wife's letters. Was her death really an accident? Is the son and heir, Alexander, legitimate? The millionaire is found dead at his desk with barbiturates in his brandy. A close family friend, psychiatrist Dr Jordan, is found decapitated by a samurai sword. Elizabeth is kidnapped.
Elizabeth asks her best friend: "I've gone through all these ordeals; when will I get my reward?" She wonders whether her friendship with Alexander could possibly develop into romance. At the moment she least expects, she does find love.