In the Absence of Mrs Peterson

Jim Petersen is a film scriptwriter working in Hollywood. Behind with an assignment, he puts his wife Sarah on a plane to New York so that he can concentrate on his work. The plane bursts into flames before it can leave the runway and Sarah is killed. In Paris a short while later, Jim meets a woman called Katherina, a Yugoslav who bears a striking resemblance to Sarah. She asks Jim to take her to Yugoslavia, using Sarah’s passport, so that she can smuggle some valuables out of the country. Lonely and at a loose end, Jim agrees. Once they reach Belgrade, it slowly dawns on him that he has bitten off more than he can chew and that, as well as being foolish, he has imperilled both himself and Katherina by agreeing to undertake the errand.