Steed is assigned to ensure the safety of Yakob Borb, president of the Balkan Republic, who is in London to negotiate a huge loan. When Borb's English secretary is murdered, Steed arranges for Venus Smith to take her place, allowing Venus to believe that Borb might grant her a singing tour of his country. Borb is a wrestling enthusiast, and he and Venus go to a fight where one of his bodyguards is wrestling The Decapod, a ten-limbed squid whose emblem is used by an old professional, Harry Ramsden.