Jonathan Hare was introduced in the first novel 'Passe Partout', set in England in 1954 where a class war is in progress. Jonathan's outstanding aptitude for opening safes is in demand and he gets caught between the needs of the socialist movement that sponsored his education and those clinging to power. He is recruited by Sir Roger de Quincy, head of an agency protecting the 'establishment' and makes a friend of his daughter, Victoria. He is sent to the Bellestream's family home to open a Champion safe that has defeated all attempts to open it. He thinks he has been accepted into the family but after he opens the safe and thereby rescues the family from ruin, the Bellestreams send him packing. Later, he is used cynically by the police as bait to locate and capture a violent East End gang. Because he now knows too much, and because Sir Roger thinks he will abscond with Victoria, the authorities try to silence him and he is forced to return to his humble origins.