In a sophisticated world, everyone lies and deceives each other, and only the peaceful Norwegian Steen is upset by the low-level cheating. A bet is made: can he go a day without lying? Of course he can, and in fact, the bet ends up causing him more trouble than it saves him. Because when the truth comes out, there is no end to what can be revealed.

A plane lands one day at Nairobi Airport in Kenya, and among the passengers is a young Danish girl, Eva Axelson, who immediately takes a carriage to the famous Hotel Norfolk. Her arrival causes no stir, but an advertisement she placed in the East African Standard three or four days earlier does—an advertisement in which she asks for information about her father, Carl Gustav Axelson, who was last seen in Kenya, and asks him or anyone who knows him to contact her at the Norfolk Hotel.

The Winther family lives in a beautiful house and enjoys a life of luxury and comfort. No one knows where the money comes from, but we soon discover that all members of the family have their own speciality within the field of theft, which they have been involved in for generations. It started with the "great-grandfather", who was a counterfeiter. They appear to be respectable citizens, but appearances can be deceiving.