Gerald Arthur Otley (Tom Courtenay) is a British secret agent called in to investigate the murder of a suspected influence pedlar and document smuggler. He trails double agents and double martinis at a posh cocktail party before discovering the villains have the cooperation of top government officials in Parliament. Otley is pegged to masquerade as a possible defector to oust the criminal mastermind who plans to sell some stolen documents vital to national security to any enemy agent with the most money. Murder, blackmail and auto chases dominate the action as the femme fatale Imogen (Romy Schneider) first has Otley beaten up by her thugs before combining forces to go after the real villains in this confusing and sometimes funny spy yarn.