Plot summary

On the far side of middle age, Bob Montagné, an ex-con who served time before the war for robbery, has since gone the straight and narrow. In his Montmartre neighborhood of Paris where he is a regular fixture in all the hot night spots, he is known mostly as a high rolling gambler, he winning big as often as he loses big. He has a genial relationship with almost everyone he knows, even the Chief of Police, Ledru. He does operate on a moral code, as witnessed by his refusal to assist an associate, Marc, who is wanted by the police, that refusal not only because Marc is a pimp, but that he beat one of his girls, his wife Lydia, the reason the police are after him this time. It is in that same vein of looking out for the next generation that Bob takes Anne, a proverbial party girl on a downward path in her current trajectory, under his wing, much as he has also done with his young friend, Paolo. It is in a perfect storm of circumstances that Bob decides to return to his criminal life and rob the Deauville Casino by breaking into their safe. He believes it will be an easy job, but one where he has to amass a small but still disparate team to accomplish the job. It may be another perfect storm in the process that will lead to what many consider Bob's destiny in what has been the life that he's led.—Huggo