 Staff members have to sign the exact moment of their arrival in a book every day; this leads to some commotion, especially when even Captain Peacock, who normally presides over the operation, is forced to note down his delay caused by an excessively cavalier attitude towards the dumb but attractive secretary Miss Belfridge, which the ladies consider virtual infidelity. It gets more serious when Mr. Humphfries, quite unlike him, is since a while regularly late, and the colleagues no longer manage to cover for him but find out he s heartbroken by a row with his mother leading to his moving out indefinitely. His position becomes most precarious when Mr. Rumbold starts an official examination for missing money from the till. The search seemed a pro forma open-and-shut trial against Mr. Humphries, but ultimately it turns out everybody has had the missing notes at some point...