London

Ferdinand lives at the Leicester Pension with a large group of French pimps and the women who support them. Among the central figures are Cantaloup, Borokrom, Moncul, Bijou and the doctor Yugenbitz.

The men suspect Bijou of informing on them. After Ferdinand and Borokrom become involved in a violent incident with him, they encounter Yugenbitz, a fugitive doctor who becomes both an ally and a kind of mentor to Ferdinand.

Meanwhile, Major Purcell becomes increasingly absorbed in military projects and neglects Angèle. Ferdinand grows more closely attached to her, eventually marrying her.

The gang's internal violence worsens around a stolen diamond tiara, police investigations and the question of who has betrayed whom.

Ferdinand reaches England and finds Angèle living comfortably because of Major Purcell. Ferdinand moves instead into the Leicester Pension, where French pimps live alongside the women whose prostitution finances them.

One member of the group, Bijou, is suspected of informing. After a violent encounter, Ferdinand and Borokrom drag what they think may be Bijou's body through London, only to discover through Dr. Yugenbitz that he is still alive. Yugenbitz shelters them and encourages Ferdinand's interest in medicine.

Criminal pressure intensifies when a valuable diamond tiara is stolen. The gang becomes convinced that Bijou knows too much. Moncul murders Bijou, and the group tries to conceal the crime through an elaborate identity switch: Moncul assumes Bijou's identity while Bijou's corpse is disguised and disposed of in the Thames.

At the same time Ferdinand and Angèle marry. The celebration degenerates into a drunken orgy. Moncul, enraged and violent, attacks Angèle and smashes a heavy bottle against her head. She survives but suffers catastrophic brain damage and never truly returns to her former self.

Without the women earning money, the organization begins to collapse. Arrests increase. The remaining men hide, steal and attempt to finance lawyers.

Eventually Moncul drunkenly reveals too much in public and produces a gun. Police intervene. Both Moncul and Cantaloup are fatally wounded and carried back to Angèle's house.