Teresa "Terry" Doolittle (Whoopi Goldberg) transfers funds for the First National Bank in Manhattan, New York. She does not quite fit with the bank's corporate image, despite being a good employee and well-liked by her co-workers. She is often chastised by her no-nonsense boss James Page (Peter Michael Goetz). Set against the backdrop of the pre-Glasnost Cold War, Terry receives the message, "Knock, Knock," and is contacted by a man calling himself "jumpin' Jack Flash" who turns out to be a Secret Intelligence Service agent in Eastern Europe who is being pursued by the KGB. After being given a riddle for his password, Terry determines the password to be B-flat major, after the Key (music) in which "Jumpin' Jack Flash" is supposedly written (as the actual song by the Rolling Stones is recorded in the key of B-flat). Jack sends her to the Consul (representative) to deliver the message "Dog's barking, can't fly without umbrella" to Department C. Despite feeling ludicrous, Terry delivers the message to Jeremy Talbot (John Wood (English actor)) who is apparently puzzled and informs her there is no Department C. Jack then asks her to enter his apartment in New York to retrieve a frying pan, on which are Jack's CIA contacts to acquire a passport. Meanwhile, Marty Phillips (Stephen Collins) arrives at First National Bank as a new coworker and, unbeknownst to her, Terry is being watched.