A young boy, who happens to be a brilliant detective, recruits a washed up actor who played a detective on TV, to work as his front man in solving a jewel heist.
Grant Logan and his detective agency partner, 13-year old Ripley Hilliard, are drawn into one of the last, great unsolved mysteries of the twentieth century when Gordon Dubelko, head of skyline Pictures, hires Grant. He wants him to find Sammy Backlin, the author of a book about a thirty-year old train robbery so that Dubelko wants to buy the movie tights. Rip, the real mastermind behind the detective duo, is immediately intrigued. The robbery on board the Goldrail Express is a famous case in which a stash of golf went missing and has never been found although two men...
A thief named Bill Leighton leaves an empty house, clutching a mysterious gold object. A large Newfoundland dog appears from nowhere, snatches the object and disappears again. The scene is set for another case for the detectives Rip Hilliard and Grant Logan. It is Rip's grandmother who finds the dog the next day and brings him home. She answers an advertisement in the local paper placed by a man looking for a lost Newfoundland. Leighton turns up to claim the dog but Rip smells a rat and pretends the dog has disappeared.
Grant Logan is hired to protect a vintage Phantom 5 Rolls Royce when the car's owner, Bruce Davies, receives a threatening letter. It seems a simple enough assignment that even Grant should be able to handle it but Rip has been grounded for a week by his mother.
To Grant's amazement, Michele Tromper, a beautiful, blonde French woman, wearing a large hat and sunglasses, shows up in his bathroom while he is performing his morning ablutions. The very sexy Mme Tromper will pay him to bid for her at an auction the following day.
Rip's grandmother is working her way through a choice selection of junk mail competitions when her friend and rival from her theatrical days, Lorinda, shows up. Dresses in khakis and safari hat, the wealthy Lorinda is a sorry sight. Her husband, Victor, 30 years her junior, has abandoned her on their African honeymoon and taken her for everything she has got.