A literary critic meets a famous writer, Hugh Vereker, who tells him that readers and critics have always misunderstood the true meaning of his work. According to Vereker, all his novels contain a hidden central idea, a secret pattern he calls the “figure in the carpet.”
Intrigued, the narrator becomes obsessed with discovering this hidden meaning. He and a friend try to analyze Vereker’s books in search of the secret. Another character, Corvick, eventually believes he has discovered the key to the mystery, but he dies before revealing it.
After his death, the secret is lost, and no one is able to uncover it. The narrator remains frustrated and never finds the answer.