Hollywood. Studio screenwriter Hart Sallust, well known patron of sleazy bars and nightclubs, has disappeared. Peter McVey, private eye, has been hired to find him. In unfamiliar territory, McVey enlists Browning - part-time actor, part-time private eye - at home in any Hollywood bar. From Hollywood bars to the Chinese underworld, their search uncovers the beautiful May Lin. With Sallust when he disappeared, and seemingly inconsolable. Or is she? Her story has 'more holes in it than a flyscreen'.