Magician Anthony Blake is at the library to borrow a copy of a book on magic when a priceless Machiavelli manuscript is stolen. The thieves are caught but the manuscript is not recovered. The librarian takes the afternoon off to go boating off the coast of Malibu when her boyfriend shows her that he has the Machiavelli. She soon finds herself plunging to the ocean floor with a pair of weights chained to her ankles. Fortunately, Blake is scuba diving in the area and rescues her. Blake tracks down the boyfriend only to discover that he has been killed and the Machiavelli once again absconded. Blake finds the Machiavelli after being imprisoned in jail without charge and escaping. A secret message in the book points to the location of the buried loot at an abandoned winery. Tony makes his way to the winery but discovers that the villains are there to meet him. Tony must use every trick in his arsenal to escape from the crooks.

Magician Anthony Blake is setting up for a fund raising performance outside a church when a man, chased by two pursuers, stumbles onto the stage, trips over a piece of the rigging, and causes a scaffolding to collapse. The next scene finds Tony and the man, who he later finds out is named George, in a hospital room, Tony with a few bruises and George with amnesia. When the pursuers find George at the hospital, Tony rescues him and brings him to his friend, Max Pomeroy. Showing him a few pictures, Tony and Max are able to jog George's memory about an acquaintance, racecar driver Tim Dunnagin, whom George immediately runs out to see. Dunnagin reminds George that they were involved in a robbery 30 years earlier and that $1.6 million worth of loot is still hidden. Only George will be able to remember where it is--if he is able to get his memory back--but Dunnagin can be ruthless as well as impatient.