It is rumoured that a dead bureaucrat in Brussels, Eamonn Hickey, had IRA connections and Britain is demanding to know what damage he has done, also the EC powerbrokers would like it to be proved that he had committed suicide Local policeman Henri Castang is detailed to investigate the death Realising that he has a limited understanding of the Irishman, he travels to Eire to see Hickey's father, to England to see his estranged wife and to Italy in search of an unidentified lover