Madame Rose runs a seedy hotel in a suburb of Paris. Strong-minded but without the least moral scruple, she once killed her husband whose honesty was a hindrance to her business. Under a suspended sentence, she now indulges in smuggling. One day, Victor, one of her former accomplices hounded by the police, finds sanctuary with her. During a drinking spree, he has the bad idea to entrust to her a suitcase filled with bank notes, a loot with which Victor hopes to rebuild his life in South America. But Rose, lured by temptation, betrays Victor, who is arrested by the police. However, he manages to escape with only one thing in mind, to take revenge on Rose...

Une sordide histoire, située dans un faubourg de Paris, où interviennent une douteuse tenancière d'hôtel qui ne recule ni devant l'assassinat, ni devant la délation ; un de ses anciens complices traînant avec lui une valise bourrée d'argent ; un camelot sympathique ; la maîtresse du gangster ; la fille avisée de la tenancière. Trafics, meurtres, beuveries se succèdent sans que la vertu soit récompensée.