Ever since his father's suicide, Edward Wilson wants to do good to the world. But he makes it into a habit to take one decision after another that makes his life an unhappy one. In the Second World War he becomes a member of the OSS, an Intelligence Service operating in London. When the Cold War begins the USA transform the OSS in the CIA for which Edward Wilson gives his services. But slowly he gets stuck in this web, costing him the love of his life, giving him a very unhappy marriage, and making him even responsible for the unhappy faith of his own son's life, all of which will accumulate during the days of the Pig Bay Incident.