After burglars break into Nemesis headquarters to access information on Richard, Craig is assigned to monitor him. Richard, however, allows himself to be abducted, leaving a message for his colleague. He finds himself imprisoned in a luxurious room (the "gilded cage" of the title), where his captor (John Carson) threatens him that, unless Richard can decipher a code, a young woman, Samantha (Jennie Linden), will be killed.

The trio are sent to investigate when several Interpol agents commit motiveless suicide. They discover that an Italian-American gangster forms the only connection between the agents, and set up a sting in which Craig threatens him, so as to discover his methodology.