Travel-writer RK Simmons meets a beautiful and intriguing woman while on assignment in Alaska. Their mutual interest in mystery stories leaves him with one half of a raggedly torn $2 bill and a strange old photograph. After the woman goes missing under unusual circumstances, the police suspect murder.
The resulting adventure pulls Simmons and a companion into a web of travel, confusion and intrigue. Nothing is clear, as Oriental gangsters give chase across country on the Empire Builder train. Simmons and his companion are left wondering until the end.