HM Treasury secret agent Phillip Calvert (Anthony Hopkins) is sent to investigate the hijacking of five cargo ships in the Irish Sea, tracking the latest hijacked ship—the ''Nantesville'', carrying £8 million in gold bullion—to the Scottish Highlands and the sleepy port town of "Torbay" on the "Isle of Torbay" (patterned after Tobermory, Mull, on the Isle of Mull).