The theft of a valuable Van Dyck painting leads to murder, and many suspects are on a plush express train speeding from Paris to Rome.

A sinister character boards the Rome Express on the trail of a valuable Van Dyck painting, recently stolen from a Paris gallery. Much to his annoyance he finds the train populated with a motley assortment of passengers, including adulterous lovers, a very annoying golf fanatic, a French police chief and an American silent film star any one of whom could have the painting he desperately seeks.—wxjuh