A months-long investigation by Interpol's special services has already revealed the identity of the main trafficker in Paris, a certain Chando and his accomplice Magda. They run a cabaret in Montmartre where the drug is regularly distributed, but the police are still powerless to discover the means used by the traffickers to move opium between Istanbul and the major capitals. A network is organized to follow a certain Madeleine who regularly makes the journey. Her luggage was searched in vain, and the consul, when asked about her, could only praise her: she had long been devoted to repatriating the bodies of her compatriots who had died abroad, free of charge, when the families so wished. On the other hand, the French police are on the trail of Mathias, accused of murdering an old peasant who claimed the inheritance of his son, who died abroad.

Pierre Leroy has a garage that he manages with the help of a couple of friends, Raymond and Annette. But the bills pile up and Leroy is on the brink of bankruptcy.

Three sketches that all start in the police station, where Léa, La Pintade and the brigadier himself tell their little stories. The story of Danielle, who bamboozled the impresario Mortimer so well that he made her his wife; the story of the sad little Simon, deprived of a father and unable to stand the mockery of his friends; and the story of the daughter of an ex-convict who - by golly - steals a statue on the day of her First Communion.