A manipulated photographic image with a psychological calming effect is investigated secretly for possible therapeutic applications, but an incidental problem causes abandonment of the project. A leak however arouses the unwelcome interest of the suspicious local Press which is then tricked into discrediting itself by blowing up a bubble of alarmist sensation that is promptly burst, but the frank editorial admission of being hoaxed leads to a promise of the true story in due course. The failure of the technical investigation threatens the future of the laboratory which then finds through the reporter a commercial application for the techniques developed.