Set in Vienna just after the Second World War, when the city is divided among four occupying powers, this novella follows Rollo Martins, a writer of cheap westerns who arrives to meet his old friend Harry Lime. He finds that Lime has recently died in a street accident, but details of the death do not add up. As Martins asks questions, he enters a murky world of black-market dealing and shifting loyalties. Greene first wrote it as preparation for the famous film.