Cathy is hired by a London hotel to organise the visit of Emir Abdulla Akaba, who is visiting London for his annual medical check-up. The penthouse and adjacent kitchens are put at his disposal. Steed, suspecting that someone will try to assassinate the Emir, gets a job in the kitchen as a chef. He meets two highly temperamental chefs, Lucien and Umberto, and the head of the kitchen staff, Arbuthnot. Lucien bakes a cake to celebrate the Emir's arrival and as it presented to him, Pentner, the Emir's adviser, hides a packet under the silver cake cover.