Young widow Louise Pearlie becomes embroiled in a perilous game of mafia bosses, Nazi spies and banished royalty in this wartime novel of suspense - 1942, Washington DC. Young widow Louise Pearlie is now a chief file clerk at the legendary OSS, the precursor to the CIA, and enjoying being an independent, working woman despite wartime privations. But a casual friendship struck up with Alessa di Luca, a secretive war refugee, sucks Louise into a dangerous game of mafia bosses, Nazi spies, banished royalty and Sicilian aristocracy - placing not only her job, but her life, in jeopardy . . .