Walter is a vain writer and publisher with a wife and a mistress, based in London, and he likes to show off. He stages a story writing competition, with a £5,000 prize, to find the plot for a perfect murder.

Steve and Jane are con artists who gain access to people's homes claiming to be doing research into polish. But eventually, they meet their match.

Happily married and living in the Middle East, American safe-cracker Steve is suddenly threatened with extradition for a crime he says he didn't commit.