James White, an American traveller, is arrested at the Swiss border. The police take him into custody, convinced he is Anatol Stiller, a promising Swiss sculptor who vanished seven years earlier after being accused of serving communist ideology. Despite the mounting evidence against him, James White continues to assert that he is not the man they are looking for. As the investigation tightens around him, Stiller’s ex-wife is called by police to testify and untangle the truth from the lies.