Harry Pendel is the charismatic proprietor and guiding genius of "Pendel and Braithwaite Limitada of Panama" through whose doors everyone who is anyone in Central America passes. One Friday afternoon Andrew Osnard barges into Pendel's shop asking to be measured for a suit. Osnard is a spy with a two-pronged secret mission: to keep a watchful eye on teh political manoeuverings leading up to the American handover of the Panama Canal on 31st December 1999; and to secure for himself the immense private fortune that has until now eluded him
