Harry is summoned to a London hospital because of a woman who jumped from London Bridge. In a flashback, he recalls when he first met her: Vienna, after the War, when authorities asked him to bring a ruthless black marketeer to justice.
Moments after Harry concludes a $3 million business deal with Ben Easterday in a New York restaurant the man collapses, dead. When Harry goes to Los Angeles to comfort the grieving widow he discovers things are not what they seem.
In a flashback, Harry recalls the case that set him on the path to a legitimate businessman. Harry kidnaps a young lady, estranged from her father since her parents' divorced. Her father wants her because she is set to inherit $8 million on her birthday.
A bank in Israel has been robbed, and the robber is on a ship heading to Barcelona. Since Spain and Israel have no extradition treaty, Harry is hired to board the ship while it is at sea and recover the stolen money before the ship reaches port.
Brad reflects back on the time he, as a bank teller, first met Harry. He agreed to cash a check for Harry, but the check from an overseas bank bounced. Harry took Brad overseas with him to solve the mystery of why payment was stopped on the check, leading to a bidding war with another investor for stocks in a small nation.
When a business contact in Paris will not answer the phone Harry flies to Paris to ensure an important deal will go through. When Harry arrives he discovers that his business contact is dead and the dead man's sister is suspicious.
A woman with a gun comes to Harry's office to hire him to locate the three people awarded France's highest honor, the Medallion d'Honneur, for their work on a top-secret mission during World War II. In actuality, the woman is working for a group of people who want to find a map that will lead to a sunken ship loaded with gold stolen from France during the War -- and to implicate Harry as a spy to French authorities.
Harry is hired to purchase rare jewelry for a woman. His life is endangered when he discovers the jewelry dealers are thieves who are looting artifacts from a Buddhist shrine.
A young woman asks Harry to help her boyfriend. The man is about to get out of jail and knows where plates for counterfeiting money are buried. Harry is asked to help the man and his girlfriend get to Switzerland, but too many people want the counterfeiting plates.
A man knocks on Harry's hotel door in Paris. When Brad answers the door, the man utters Harry's name then falls in, dead. Harry must learn who killed the man, and why the dead man had a check for $100,000 for Harry.
Harry's past life as a thief catches up with him: a man in Genoa threatens to inform the police that, twelve years earlier, Harry stole a priceless painting and replaced it with a copy unless Harry comes to Genoa and switches the paintings back. The painting is at the center of blackmail and murder, and a suspicious policeman is watching Harry's every move.
While visiting a friend, a renown violinist, backstage after a concert Harry witnesses the theft of the priceless violin the musician played -- but the musician and his manager assure Harry the violin was not stolen. After Harry leaves the theater the woman who accompanied him to the concert hires him to recover the "stolen" violin.
Upon arrival at a foreign airport Harry and Brad are arrested and charged with masterminding a plot to assassinate the nation's king. Harry has to find a way to clear his name, which may prove impossible as he is kept in a guarded room.
The rare stamp that Harry buys as a birthday present for Brad is counterfeit. Since Brad is an expert on stamps he will know the stamp is a forgery, so the counterfeiters plot to get the stamp back, even if it means killing Harry and Brad.
A deal to transport silk from Egypt goes awry when a piece of rare Egyptian art is found stashed in the shipment. Harry must find who has tried to frame him or the count who partnered with him on the business deal before the count's disgraced fiancée breaks off their marriage.
Harry receives two telegrams from an expert diamond cutter: one says he would be "delighted" to help Harry with the cutting of a diamond valued at $250,000; the other says "under no circumstances" would he help. Confused, Harry goes to see the man and discovers a web of murder and blackmail.
Brad sees a Honolulu newspaper headline, "Harry Lime Killed in Plane Explosion." He takes the paper to the very much still-alive Harry. Realizing the plane had a bomb aboard, Harry and Brad must find out if the explosion was meant to kill Harry before the would-be killers get another chance.
Harry is summoned to the country of Costa Semana on the pretense of buying a coffee plantation. The man who contacted Harry saved Harry's life in Vienna after the War. As payback for the favor he wants Harry to smuggle him out of the country amid political upheaval, a move that could be deadly for Harry.
A woman comes to Harry's hotel room, followed quickly by an irate husband who shoots Harry in the shoulder. The incident is staged to draw Harry into a trap to frame him for a murder.
Harry is summoned to a trial for his actions during the War. If it is proven that he murdered a fellow soldier and stole money that was to be used for a top secret assignment he will be put to death.