Barbara Leen owns a coffee export company based in Rio de Janeiro. The company has long since been infiltrated by smugglers, without Barbara knowing about it. The criminals are smuggling diamonds. Barbara's boyfriend is a journalist and tries to get to the bottom of the matter. But during his research he comes across more and more deaths. Eventually, however, he comes across the nightclub owner Leila and her lover Dumont. They appear to be the masterminds.

The shooting of a movie is to take place in Rio de Janeiro. The script states that an actor is to shoot himself. The director wants to demonstrate how he imagines this scene. When he takes the revolver and pulls the trigger, he actually falls to the ground. The crew is horrified when they realize that the ammunition was live and the director is lying dead on the floor. Inspector Moura is assigned to investigate the case. He suspects a jealous motive.