It’s May and Richard Hanny is living in London after he had lived in Africa for many years.

But
now he doesn’t like living in London. One night when he comes back to his flat in Langham
Place, he finds a neighbour waiting for him. He is Franklin P Scudder, an American. He tells
Richard he needs a place to hide. He discovered that Karolides, the Greek Prime Minister, is
coming to London on the 15th of June fo a meeting and German people are planning to kill him
to star a war. But if he doesn’t come the war will happen anyway. Scudder wants to keep him
alive till the 15th of June. But the enemies are following him so he took a dead boy and shot
him in the face to pretend that he had killed himself. Meanwhile he wants to be hidden in
Richard’s flat. He changes his physical aspect and his name. Next day Scudder talks Richard
about his enemies: the Black Stone. The next evening when Richard arrives home, Scudder has
been killed with a knife. Richard planns his escape, he wants to be hidden until he can contact
with some people from the government. He decides to go to Scotland. Next morning he gives
money to the milkman to have his hat and coat. When he goes out two men are watching the
building. He runs to the station and takes a train to the north. He had found Scudder’s black
notebook in the tobacco jar but it was written in a number code. In the train he tries to
discover the code. He gets off the train in a small station and follow a road. He spends the
night in a house where a nice couple lives. Next morning the goes to another station and takes
a train to Dumfries. In the carriage there is only a drunk farmer with a dog. Richard reads in the
newspaper about Schudder’s murderer. The train stops by a river and Richard gets off the
trian. The dog starts to bark andpulls out the farmer who almost falls in the river. Other
passengers run to help him and the dog bits somebody. Richard walks along the moor and
when he arrives to a hill, he discovers a planes that seems to be looking for somebody. He goes
into some trees and finds a young man who owns a hotel. The boy wants to be a writer and
Richard tells him that a group of international thieves are looking for him because he
discovered them in Africa stealing gold. The boy helps him and hides him in a room. When two
men appear the boy tells them that Richard was there the day before but he has already left.
He gives them a piece of paper written in German speaking about the Black Stone and
Scudder. Then the boy tells them police that the two men have something to do with the
London murder. That night Richard remembers that Scudder told him the name “Julia
Czechenyi” was very important. This name was the key to read the notebook. He also discovers
that the 15th of June there was going to be a meeting in London to speak about the war planns
and a German spy would be there to steal the planns. Next day early in the morning, the police
arrives and when the two men appear again, the police arrest them. Richard runs away
stealing his enemie’s car. He’s driving fast along a narrow road (because a police tried to stop
him) when another car appears and Richard has a crash. The car falls into a river but Richard
saves his life. The other driver is a young man called sir Harry. Richard tells him he’s from
Australia and his name is Twisdom. Sir Harry is going to a meeting and he wants to speak about
Australia. After the meeting they have supper in Sir Harry’s house and Richard tells him his real
name and all his story. Sir Harry writes a letter to a friend of his uncle, Sir Walter Bullivant. This
man works in the Foreign Office. In the letter, Sir Harry says that if a man called Twisdom, visits
him singing the song “Annie Laurie” and saying “Balck Stone” he should help him.

Early next morning Richard leaves by bike. The plane sees him so he throws the bike in a lake
and runs. He finds a roadman, Mr. Turnbull, complaining because he has to work although he
feels sick because the day before was his daughter’s wedding. Today he is waiting for the visit
of the Road Inspector. Richard takes his place, his puts on his pipe, glasses and hat. The man
goes to sleep with Richard’s notebook and money. Richard works and the Inspector comes.
After that two men (one fat and one thin) appear in a car and ask him about a man. When they
leave another car appears. In the car it is Marmaduke Jopley, a man that Richard met in
London, although he doesn’t like him. He takes his car and drives until night. Richard sleepsin
the hills but next morning he finds that a lot of people are looking for him. He crawls in the
heather and trying to escape he finds a farmhouse. There is a bald man reading in the farm.
The man helps him and tells him to hide in a room. Then Richard discovers that this man is the
Black Stone. To save his life, he pretends to be a sailor called Ainslie who found a car in the
river and stole some money. Now the police is looking for him. The old man doubts because he
has never seen Richard. So he puts Richard in a room and leaves. Richard finds some matches,
fusses and explosives in a cupboard so he blows up one of the walls of the rooms and hides on
the top of a tower. The Black Stones looks for him but the can’t find him. Richard feels very
sick. From the top of the tower, Richard sees an airfield where the plane lands. At night he
escapes and decides to come back to Mr. Turnbull’s house to pick up his money and the
notebook. But he is ill, he had malaria when he was in Africa and now he has it again. When
gets Mr. Turnbull’s house he is really sick. He spends several days there while Mr. Turnbull
looks after him. The 12th of June, Richard gives him some money and takes a train to London
in the evening he arrives at Artinswell. He finds a fisherman who started to sing “Annie Laurie”.
He is Sir Walter Bullivant. Richar goes to his house, have a shower and shave. He also puts on
clean clothes and have dinner with Sir Walter. He explains everything but Sir Walter does not
believe it. Just then Sir Walter receives a call that tells him Karolides has just been killed.

Next morning Sir Walter tells him they have changed the date of the meeting. Richard spends
the day walking around London. He decides to sleep in a hotel because he doesn’t want to go
to his house. After having dinner, he feels very nervous. He thinks something is going to
happen. On the way to Sir Walter’s house, he finds Marmaduke Jopley who starts shouting.
Richard hits him and runs away. He arrives at Sir Walter’s house and waits in the hall. Then the
First Sea Lord, Lord Alloa, arrives and comes in the meeting. When this man is leaving, Richard
sees his face and recognizes him as the bald man of the Black Stone. Richard comes in the
meeting and tells everybody. They phone to Lord Alloa’s house and discover that he has been
ill in bed all day. They don’t know what to do to stop the spies. Richard remembers that
Scudder wrote “39 steps high tide at 10: 17”. He thinks it can be the place and time when the
spies are leaving England. They look in a Tide Table for a place where the high tide is at 10: 17.
After speaking with a sailor they get to know that there is place, Ruff, where there are lots fo
houses over cliffs and steps to go down to the beach. They drive there and with the help of a
policeman called Mc Gillivray find the house. It is called Trafalgar House and belongs to a man
called Appleton. They watch the house and find there are three men living there: a bald man, a
fat man and a thin man. They also see a yacht called Ariadne waiting on the sea. However,
Richard has doubts because the men behave so normal. Then he remembers one of his friends
told him that when you disguise, if you behave as your disguise, nobody will recognize you.
That night Richard enters in the house. The men pretend no to know him. They pretend to be
an uncle and two nephews and invite Richard to play cards. But then, suddenly, one of them
says he has to leave. Richard recognizes all of them and blows a whistle. The police enter and
arrest the old man and the fat man but the thin man jumps out of the house and goes down
the steps. The old man blows the steps to the sea. But the police had arrested the people in
the yacht before. They could avoid that spies took the plans to German but they couldn’t avoid
the war. Richard joins the army to fight in the war.