Intrigue

After professional hitman Jef Costello is seen by witnesses, his efforts to provide himself an alibi drive him further into a corner.

In Paris, Jef Costello is a lonely hit man who works under contract. He is hired to kill the owner of a club and becomes the prime suspect of the murder. However, his perfect alibi drops the accusation against him. His girlfriend Jane, her client and citizen above any suspicion Wiener and Valerie, the pianist of the club and main witness of the crime, provide the necessary evidence of his innocence supporting his alibi. Free, he is betrayed and chased by the gangsters sent by the one who hired him and also by the police, not convinced of his innocence. Jef seeks out who has hired him to revenge.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Jef Costello, a Paris-based hit man who is meticulous in his work, is preparing for his latest job, he not knowing his client in working through an intermediary. That preparation includes setting airtight alibis, one with his girlfriend Jane Lagrange, and scoping out his entry and escape from where the hit is to take place, the office at Martey's nightclub - the target Martey himself - without anyone really noticing him. Although he is able to carry out the hit, it is not as clean as he would have wanted. In the police rounding up several hundred suspects in the immediate hours following the hit, Jef is surprised by the outcome of his questioning, he being released against certain odds working against him. Although the statements by the witnesses at the club who could have seen him being inconclusive as to him being the murderer, the police commissioner is still working on the high probability that Jef is the man for who they are looking, and as a result places much of his resources in placing Jef under secret surveillance. In Jef concluding the transaction with the client through the intermediary, things again do not go according to what Jef would have expected or wanted. As such, Jef believes he has to find out the identity of the client and/or his/her reason for wanting Martey dead, all while eluding the police, who he knows is pursuing him.—Huggo

Taciturn, meticulous, elegant, and at the top of his game, Jef Costello, a French, fedora-wearing, gabardine-clad hitman with a poker face, has made the first mistake in his impeccable, blood-stained career. As a result, after the ill-performed assassination of a nightclub owner, Costello triggers a full-scale investigation and a routine round-up; however, his activity is untraceable, and he has a rock-solid alibi. Now, after surviving an identity parade, the police and Costello's former employers, who tried to pay him in lead, shadow the stone-faced lone wolf, setting the stage for an elaborate trap, and a taut, cat-and-mouse game against the backdrop of the Paris Métro and the rain-soaked metropolis. Can there be redemption for the killer with an angel face?—Nick Riganas

Impassive hitman Jef Costello lives in a single-room Paris apartment whose spartan furnishings include a small bird in a cage. Costello's methodical modus operandi involves creating airtight alibis, including ones provided by his lover, Jane. After carrying out a contract on a nightclub owner, Jef is seen leaving the club by the club's piano player Valérie and several witnesses, but their testimonies are contradictory. After rounding up numerous suspects, including Jef, the police superintendent firmly believes Costello is the culprit.

Costello loses a police tail and goes to collect his fee from an intermediary sent by his employers. When the man shoots and wounds Costello, Jef realizes that the police investigation has compromised him with his employers. After treating his wound, Costello returns to the nightclub and meets Valérie, who takes him to her home. Though he is grateful, he wonders why she lied to the police when she clearly saw him after the murder. Meanwhile, police officers bug his room, agitating the bird in its cage. Upon returning, Costello notices some loose feathers scattered around the cage and the bird acting strangely. Suspecting an intrusion, he searches his room, finds the bug and deactivates it.

The police search Jane's apartment and offer her a deal: withdraw her dubious alibi for Costello and they will leave her alone. She rejects the offer. Back in his apartment, Costello is ambushed by the intermediary, who pays him off and offers him another contract. Costello overpowers him and forces him to disclose the identity of his boss, Olivier Rey.

Several undercover officers attempt to tail Costello in the Métro but he loses them. He visits Jane and assures her that everything will work out, then drives to Rey's home, which turns out to be where Valérie also lives. Costello kills Rey and returns to the nightclub, this time making no attempt to conceal his presence. He checks his hat but leaves his hat-check ticket on the counter and puts on white gloves, which he wears during his kills, in full view of everyone. He approaches the stage where Valérie plays piano. She quietly advises him to leave but he pulls out his gun and aims it at her. As she asks Costello why he is doing this, he responds that he is being paid for the job. Three policemen reveal themselves and shoot Costello dead. When the superintendent inspects Costello's gun, he finds it empty.