The Van Der Byl Diamond Company, willed by its founder to his son Benedict, turns out to be a bequest of hatred. For it is couched in such terms as to offer him the instrument of destruction of his bitterest rival. `Destroy Johnny' is the old man's implacable message. And so, consumed with envy for his own foster-brother, Benedict sets out in ruthless pursuit of this goal -- and Johnny is plunged into a maelstrom of greed, vengeance and murder ...