Claire's handbag is stolen. It contained a letter written ten years previously by the man who is now the French President. In the letter, he urges his pregnant mistress to have an abortion. Claire immediately alerts the President's men. From that moment, the machinery of state swings into action.

Two retirees decide to extend their vacation beyond the usual date, near a lake where they own a villa. From that moment on, everything becomes hostile: the butcher stops delivering meat, there is no milk, their electricity is cut off, and their car is sabotaged. Don't we want to show them that when your time is up, on vacation or in life, it's not a good idea to linger and that you have to disappear?

Since his wife died, Inspector Louis Baroni (Philippe Noiret) has become a virtual recluse, preferring the solitude of his quiet house to the company of others. His period of mournful contemplation is broken when he is called out to look into the suspicious death of Madame Morlaix who, according to her husband Edouard (Michel Serrault), fell from an upstairs window. Curious to find out more, Baroni begins his inquiry.