Bonis has dropped into his gentlemen's club for a nightcap, where he encounters his excitable friend Smythers.

It seems that Smythers has an intractable problem, a problem so severe that it is knobbling at him. Bonis begins to share his friend's disquiet when Smythers attempts to enlist his help. Smythers' rather histrionic expostulations are interrupted by the appearance of a strange figure, who escorts Smythers and Bonis down a mysterious corridor, eventually arriving at the office of the Patron. The Patron, who seems to know a great deal about Smythers and Bonis, claims that he can solve Smythers' problem. However, in order to arrive at the correct remedy, he must first fill in some gaps in his records.

The story follows the adventures of Smythers and Bonis as they attempt to provide the missing data. This bizarre process is mostly overseen by the Patron's assistant, the somewhat sinister Proctor. We soon learn that failure to satisfy the required information – regardless of how seemingly irrelevant or absurd - is not without consequences.

The question is: can the problem be solved, or will the knobbling continue?

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