After World War II, a Paris court investigates the murder of Maquis resistance leader Armand Dubois. French agent Marcel Brevoort (Steve Cochran) joins a German agent, a British foreign office member, agent Maria (Phyllis Thaxter) and Maj. Letrec (Karl Malden) to testify about a mysterious American soldier of fortune, Peter Forrester (Cornel Wilde). Their testimony paints Forrester as a reckless but daring field agent, whose actions influenced a mission in which Dubois was involved.