A sudden fire had raged like an inferno aboard the cargo carrier Velella in Copenhagen. As a marine claims adjuster with a London-based insurance company, Andrew Laird had plenty of work ahead of him — particularly after two bodies are found in the hold: one was the Captain, the other was Olaf Hansen, a passenger. And Laird discovers the remains of a fire bomb next to Hansen’s body.
It was definitely sabotage, but the cargo seemed ordinary: dried milk, machinery, sugar, textiles, furniture, china — until Laird finds that a priceless full-scale replica of a Viking long-ship has been destroyed. The ship belonged to the outwardly ultrarespectable Vassen Trust, whose exhibits of Viking artifacts were world famous.
When Per Jensen, a Scandinavian insurance agent, is murdered, a terrorist group which calls itself the New World Revolution claims responsibility for both the fire and Jensen’s death.
But Laird believes in more practical motives — such as greed, for instance, and, with the help of the charming Sergeant Nina Kristensen, is able to uncover corruption in some very high places.