A fortune in diamonds is stolen and the jeweller killed. Petty crook Jacques Darnay is jailed for the crime. Released on parole eight years later Darnay is well aware that he is being tailed by police and gangsters alike, both sides wanting to recover the loot. The consensus is that Darnay committed the robbery but not the murder. Unanswered questions include: where did Darnay get his information? who killed the jeweller? and where are the diamonds? Darnay returns to Paris, intending to pick up the diamonds and flee the country. But then his closest friends are killed and gang boss Gino Ruggieri hesitates in helping him. Times have changed: a new and more ruthless breed of crook has emerged. Meanwhile, everyone around Darnay is being killed off, which means that police chief Rouxel is also onto him.