The novel has two stories that at first glance seem unconnected, but most readers will be able to find out the connection. The first is about the situation of artificial inheritance. John Treverton must marry Laura Malcolm within a year or lose his inheritance. In another story, French ballerina Zaire Chico lives an absent-minded life in Parisian and London theaters. In the end, the mystery of the murder happens, and the rest of the plot focuses on that.