In Morocco, a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) operative named Bernard L. Cooper, sets up another CIA agent to take the fall as a drug smuggler. At a shipyard, Cooper has an undercover agent named Maddy exchange a vehicle with tires full of cocaine with a CIA agent who gives her a suitcase full of money. Carson, another agent working with Cooper, poses as a crane operator. As Carson transfers the automobile onto a barge, he purposely drops it. The cocaine explodes from the tires, and the unnamed CIA agent is arrested. Sometime later, a senate committee is held in Washington, D.C., pointing blame at CIA Director Ross for the illegal activities of one of his agents. Ross is given forty-eight hours to conduct his own investigation. Ross suspects Cooper’s set-up was an attempt to take over his position as director, and recruits an agent named Brown to help him prove Cooper’s guilt. In his home, where he knows Cooper has planted listening devices, Ross concocts a fake story about an upcoming airport meeting with a contact who knows what happened in Morocco. Ross secretly tells Brown to choose a person at random to mislead Cooper. With Cooper’s team watching, Brown randomly selects a man with one red shoe named Richard Drew to be the “contact.” Richard, who is wearing the mismatched shoes as the result of a prank initiated by his friend Morris, is confused when Brown shakes his hand and leaves. Cooper sends Maddy to bump into Richard, and learn his name and address. The unwitting violinist is investigated, and Maddy searches his apartment while he is at a dentist appointment. However, Richard returns early to find the beautiful woman from the airport in his home. Before he can speak, he is shot with a tranquilizing dart. Sometime later, Richard is visited by Paula, a fellow musician and wife of his friend, Morris. Paula wants to have an affair with Richard, but he rejects her. Morris arrives to play baseball with Richard, and Paula sneaks out the window. Cooper’s agents continue to monitor Richard’s activities. At the baseball game, Maddy runs by, distracting Richard, who is hit in the head with a baseball. Maddy uses the opportunity to take him home to recuperate. Richard hopes to seduce her, but is interrupted by Morris, who enters in a rage, suspecting Paula of having an affair with an unknown man. That evening, Cooper sends agents to the symphony, believing Richard will send a coded message during his performance. Elsewhere, Brown meets with Ross and reports that their plan to set up Cooper is going well. Brown worries that Cooper may kill Richard if he suspects he possesses information about Cooper’s misdeeds in Morocco, but Ross is unconcerned about Richard’s well-being. However, Brown defies Ross and orders two agents, Virdon and Reese, to protect Richard. That evening, Maddy invites Richard to her home to seduce him, and Cooper watches from behind a two-way mirror. After spending time with Richard, Maddy does not believe him to be an agent, but Cooper suspects Richard is acting. She returns to Richard and demands to know what he is hiding, and he reveals that he is secretly a composer, and she has inspired him to write a piece of music. He plays her the piece on his violin. Maddy is charmed, and makes love to him. Elsewhere, Ross tells Brown the only way to end things is to involve Richard and Cooper in a shoot-out. Richard sends flowers and chocolate to Maddy, but Cooper intercepts the gifts and destroys them, searching for hidden messages. Maddy makes a cryptic telephone call to Richard, telling him she is leaving the country, and Richard leaves his apartment to search for her. While he is out, Virdon and Reese kill two of Cooper’s men in Richard’s apartment, and then Reese kills Virdon. Suspecting Paula of having an affair with Richard, Morris takes a gun to Richard’s home. When he arrives, Morris sees the three dead men on the floor and quickly leaves. Outside, Morris runs into Richard, and the two return to the apartment, but the bodies have disappeared. Richard thinks Morris has lost his mind. Looking out his window, Richard sees Maddy being taken at gunpoint, and chases after the vehicle on his bicycle. Morris sees Reese moving the dead bodies before Reese knocks him unconscious. When Reese looks out the window, Cooper shoots and kills him, mistaking him for Richard. Elsewhere, Richard rescues Maddy from her fellow team members. As they flee, they are seen by Cooper, who chases them onto a subway train. Maddy asks Richard if he works for the government, but he denies it. She admits that she is a spy by displaying her gun as Cooper approaches. Maddy pulls the train’s emergency break, and she and Richard escape. They run into a building, and Cooper follows into a Senate hearing, wielding his gun. When he enters, Maddy accuses Cooper of wrongdoing in Morocco, and he is arrested. Sometime later, Richard visits Morris at a mental hospital, and Paula tells him that she and Morris have worked out their problems. Maddy makes a deal to testify against Cooper, and is cleared of all charges. She finds Richard on the street, and embraces him. Brown becomes the new director of the CIA.