A man is investigated for the murder of a person, even though he was in the company of a girl in a nightclub at the time; However, the young woman is afraid to testify for fear of retaliation, so she asks the man's family for a large sum of money in order to tell the truth to the police. Subsequently, other murders follow one another, including that of the real murderer, who was only a hitman, of the witness and of the witness's best friend. The suspect thus thinks that it is his business partner who wants to get involved but the truth turns out to be even more tangled.

A passionate affair set against the intense encounter between a film-maker and a novelist. The story begins with young scriptwriter François tracking down the author of a once-scandalous novel. His aim is to adapt the work for the screen but several elements of the novel he finds difficult to comprehend. The author, Jeanne, is initially cautious of relaying information, insisting the presumably autobiographical book in no way relates to her personal life. However, eventually she takes the man into confidence to tell the background of Benvenuta.