The old Valmorin died 200 years ago. The notary tells the family about the inheritance: the one who is terminally ill will receive the money. They all try their luck with getting ill before the other so one family member pretends to be deaf, another pretends to have a terrible back ache and so on...

The Lourmel couple are taking part in the final round of a TV game show: the wife has to answer questions; if she fails, her husband drives a racing car to make up the lost minutes. Moments before the start of the show, a phone call informs Lourmel that her six-year-old son has been kidnapped, and that the ransom is the amount to be won on the game show.