Professor Dr. von Igelfeld gets caught up in a nasty case of academic intrigue while on sabatical at Cambridge. When he returns to Regensburg he is confronted with the thrilling news that someone from a foreign embassy has actually checked his masterwork, "Portuguese Irregular Verbs," out of the Institute's Library. As a result, he gets caught up in intrigue of a different sort on a visit to Bogota, Columbia -- provided by publisher.