Cat burglar William 'Spider' Scott leaves prison vowing to go straight. However, a government security officer approaches him to do a highly dangerous job, and is hounded by Detective Superintendent George Bulman.
Fairfax persuades Spider to burgle the Chinese Legation to retrieve a photo for the British Government. He accomplishes this but is seen and chased by Bulman.
Spider is tortured by two South African hitmen for the negative he stole from the Chinese. He's luckily rescued and then discovers he may be in even worse danger than he thought.