Harry Lime reconnects with Jacques, the butler of a once-renowned perfume manufacturer whose business has fallen on hard times. Together, they hatch a plan to steal a truckload of luxury perfume, dilute it with alcohol, and sell it to American soldiers eager to send gifts home to their sweethearts.

Harry Lime arrives in Lisbon expecting a simple transaction: he’s to deliver a small package to a man named Carlos, in exchange for a generous fee. The package, he’s told, contains legal documents. But Lime, ever the sceptic, suspects something more valuable—and more dangerous.

Harry Lime is enjoying a quiet evening in London when he’s approached by Professor Wilberforce, a brilliant but anxious academic who once taught Lime in his youth. The professor believes one of his former students—now a government attaché—is secretly a spy, preparing to defect to an unnamed foreign power.

Harry Lime is approached by Sir Geoffrey, a nervous aristocrat with a problem: someone is threatening to expose his affair with a married woman, unless he pays a hefty sum. The blackmailer claims to have photographs and letters, and Sir Geoffrey wants Lime to discreetly handle the situation.

Harry Lime is vacationing in St. Moritz, enjoying the alpine glamour and high society, when he encounters Princess Fatima, an Arab royal traveling incognito. She’s captivating, mysterious, and surrounded by an entourage that treats her like a living legend.

Harry Lime is approached by Ilona, a striking Bohemian dancer performing in Genoa’s cabarets. She claims to be the rightful heir to a set of priceless pearls—a family legacy stolen during the war and now rumoured to be in the possession of a shady art dealer named Vesco.

Harry Lime is enjoying the good life in Nice, mingling with wealthy tourists and sipping cocktails when he’s invited to a private villa by Madame Renard, a glamorous widow whose husband recently died under mysterious circumstances. She claims it was an accident—but whispers around town suggest otherwise.

Harry Lime is enjoying the Riviera when he’s approached by Horace St. John Windermere, a charming Englishman with a taste for fine antiques—and a proposition. Horace wants Lime’s help in fencing a stolen Vermeer painting, one of the Dutch master’s rare works, lifted from a country estate in Wiltshire.

Harry Lime arrives in Paris posing as a currency expert, hoping to profit from post-war fluctuations in exchange rates. He’s approached by Jeanette, a beautiful woman with a mysterious past and a suitcase full of Hungarian pengoes, a currency that’s nearly worthless—unless you know where to trade it.

Harry Lime is in Monte Carlo, enjoying the casino scene, when he meets Suzie, a dazzling young woman with a sharp mind and a sharper cue stick. She’s a billiards prodigy with a knack for hustling wealthy men—and Lime is instantly intrigued.