A reporter is killed before he can publish a story on arms smuggling; a geologist is murdered when he tries to hand over photographs that will reveal the person behind a secret terrorist network; a dirty bomb sits in a hotel room just blocks from the White House; and a wealthy industrialist wants to harm the west in a way that will be remembered throughout history. These might have remained unconnected except for the discovery of an artifact — a three-by-three-inch piece of silver that was found at a victim's residence. In this third novel of the Mauro Bruno detective series the Italian detective, along with his new partners Elia Donati and Lisette Donais, try and stop an industrialist before he attacks a NATO summit attended by the President of the United States, and sets off a dirty bomb in Washington that will make a large portion of the capital uninhabitable for generations. Although security at both locations at first appear to be invincible, Bruno and his partners soon discover a chink in the armor that has gone unnoticed because of a bribe paid to someone high up in the government.
