Stricken with the terrible leprosy after a trip to the Orient , a man turns to his only friend-Andrews, an enigmatic surgeon with a fascination for unorthodox science, in search of desperate help. When Andrews proposes a plan to fake his death and spare him from public disgrace, the man agrees. But as he surrenders to the shadows of the scheme, he begins to suspect that Andrews's motives may be far more disturbing than he imagined.