Above Suspicion

During their spring 1939 honeymoon in England, Richard and Frances are commissioned by the British secret service to find a scientist who has developed a countermeasure against a Nazi secret weapon, a magnetic sea mine. With no name, appearance, or location for the scientist, they treat the search as an adventurous assignment across Europe. The mission marks the start of their perilous journey.

In Paris, Frances receives a hat decorated with a rose as a signal from their first contact and is directed to a Montmartre cafe. An unseen contact plants a tourist guidebook into Richard's coat, and ink dots on a map form a musical staff that encodes the opening notes of the song My Love Is Like a Red Red Rose. The dots and notes become their password as they press on with the search.

Three pinpricks on the map point them to the book's seller A. Werner in Salzburg, who directs them to a museum. At the museum, Count Hassert Seidel poses as a guide and arranges for them to stay at Frau Kleist's guesthouse. In a Liszt book annotated by Kleist, the next clue points to Pertisau in Tyrol.

The Liszt book with annotations identifies Pertisau in Tyrol as the place to inquire about a doctor who collects chess pieces. Seidel's hints guide their further travel in search of the scientist. The clues tighten their sense of where the scientist might be.

Some days later, they reach Pertisau in Tyrol to inquire about a doctor who collects chess pieces. They begin cautious reconnaissance, following the thread of chess motifs tied to the missing scientist. The search widens beyond simple espionage into a dangerous hunt.

They attend a performance of Liszt's music, and during a passage Thornley had practiced earlier, a Nazi commandant is shot and killed. Officials question every audience member, raising tensions and suspicion. Thornley reveals that he killed a Nazi colonel earlier in retaliation for the torture and murder of his Austrian fiancée.

Richard, Frances, and the group visit the home of chess collector Dr. Mespelbrunn, where von Aschenhausen is present. They notice sheet music for the target song on the piano and become suspicious when von Aschenhausen fails to respond to a coded signal. They realize Mespelbrunn is being hunted.

After a tense escape, the group returns to rescue Mespelbrunn and frees him with Seidel's assistance. Mespelbrunn is revealed to be the missing scientist, Dr. Smith, and the group heads toward Innsbruck with the crucial countermeasure plans.

In Innsbruck, they obtain counterfeit passports from the elderly Schultzes and plan to board a Milan-bound train at separate stations. The Schultzes are arrested by the Gestapo, and Frances is detained and questioned. Thornley arrives in Innsbruck intending to catch the same train and encounters Richard.

Thornley, who has traveled to Innsbruck on the same train plan, joins Richard as they coordinate a rescue operation for Frances. They move to the place where she is being held and prepare to act under pressure from the Gestapo.

Richard, Thornley, and Seidel gain entry to Frances's detention and kill her captors, including von Aschenhausen. Thornley is killed in the ensuing firefight, but Frances is freed and their companions survive.

After fooling Nazi border guards, Seidel and the American newlyweds reach freedom in Italy. The mission ends with the group safely out of Nazi-occupied Europe.