In Rome Arbelli, who made occasional friendship with the commoner Paolo, tells him that he was unable to own Anna, his girlfriend. Having gone to her apartment after a party, the two young men rape her and kill a woman who was trying to help her. Chased by the police, the two kidnap around fifteen customers in a restaurant attached to the Hotel Continental; then they blackmail Commissioner Aldovrandi, who rushed and besieged the building, asking for a billion in gold bars, a car and a plane to escape. The official, while asking for time until dawn of the following day, prepares a marksman chosen in a suitable place. In the hours that follow, Paolo is moved by the sensible words of a single woman; but Arbelli becomes increasingly fierce.