Nénette, a promiscuous pipe-smoking girl, loves Claude, a gangster who has just pulled off a gainful heist. They both drive to Le Havre from where they plan to set sail for Desirade Island. But in Le Havre, Claude meets Raymond, a shipyard worker and former vet friend of the Indochina War, who offers to accommodate him. Claude accepts but, as a token of his “gratitude”, he seduces Raymond’s wife. In despair, Raymond, who in the meantime has lost his job, jumps off a cliff. Shadowed by a detective, Nénette becomes his mistress, knowing full well that Claude will be arrested because of her.