Blathers and Duff, private investigators, introduce their sons, amid political strife between England and the Irish people, in three related tales. In the first, Blathers asks his former partner, Duff, to come to Ireland and help solve an apparent murder. During that visit, young Blathers is born. He grows up experiencing armed conflict and famine. Secondly, Young Duff has been raised in America, where he was led to believe that his father is dead. He is told about his father by his mother on her deathbed. When he is sent to London on behalf of the Pinkerton Detective Agency, he finds his father and they track down an assassin together. Finally, young Blathers and young Duff meet and get involved in solving several killings in Ireland.