Barbara Chilufya, a fugitive from the law, sneaks into Zambia with a simple proposal to Vince Kunda; give me details of the contents of my file held by the Special Investigations Team on Economy and Trade (SITET), and in return I will stop Michael Hartzenberg from coming to get you. Michael and Barbara are both with the notorious dirty tricks brigade, which carries out letter bombings and political assassinations on behalf of the apartheid South African government. Vince has no intentions of obliging Barbara, but when Malcolm Lungu the head of SITET seemingly encourages him to do so, things do not look very right. Vince knows that he stands to face a very long term in prison if it is discovered that he has been communicating with Barbara. In a seemingly unconnected event, Jimmy Mwale, Vince's indisciplined neighbour across the road, is charged with rape and murder. Vince has his work cut out trying to comfort the sisters Valerie and Eileen as they try by all legal means to get their brother set free. With Malcolm pulling invisible strings in his political battles with rivals from other intelligence services, and Barbara trying to evade capture knowing that if she is ever caught, she would be sentenced to death a thousand times over for the atrocities she has been committing in the region over the years, there arises a secret file called 'Maravi'. Hidden away in the Zambia Security Intelligence Services computer systems, and accessed only by the Director General, the file has been activated, and it threatens the political stability of all the countries in the region.