Échec au Porteur plot
Bastien, a drug smuggler, would like to give up his criminal activities for a perfect love with Jacqueline. He takes on one last task: against the promise of a considerable sum of money, he must betray the Armenian Stan's gang in favor of Hans, who heads a rival gang. The latter replaces the drugs hidden in an innocent football with a bomb that will explode with a delay of ten hours. But Bastien, who was not notified of the substitution, accidentally exchanges the ball with that of a couple of playing youngsters he encounters in his path. When Hans finds out about this, he is furious and orders one of his henchmen to shoot Bastien. Before dying, Bastien can mumble a few words into the ear of a police officer about the description of the boy who is said to have taken the football. With the scarce elements, the commissioner starts a frantic search for the bomb, mobilizing the entire police corps of Paris.