Topkapi

Elizabeth arrives in Istanbul and visits a traveling fair that features replicas of treasures from the Topkapı Palace. She is particularly drawn to the emerald-encrusted dagger of Sultan Mahmud I. The encounter sparks a plan to steal the dagger.

Elizabeth leaves Turkey for Paris and recruits Walter Harper to help plan the theft. Together they assemble a crew of amateurs: Cedric Page, Giulio the Human Fly, and Hans Fischer. The goal is a high-stakes heist of a priceless artifact.

In Kavala, Greece, Elizabeth and Walter hire Arthur Simpson to drive a car loaded with explosives and firearms across the border into Istanbul. Simpson is unaware of the real plan and is detained by Turkish Customs on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack. Major Ali Tufan then recruits Simpson to spy on Elizabeth and Walter.

Cedric picks up the car in Istanbul, but a policeman informs him that only the person who brought the car into the country is legally allowed to drive it, tightening the crew's logistics.

Simpson travels with the gang, secretly dropping messages inside an empty cigarette pack for his police handlers. The messages signal his undercover status and complicate the crew's plan.

The plan to infiltrate the Treasury from the roof is set: Hans lowers Giulio to retrieve the dagger and replace it with a replica, while Walter lifts the glass case enclosing the dagger. They aim to avoid touching the floor, which is rigged with an alarm.

Hans injures his hands during a scuffle with the drunken cook, forcing Simpson to be enlisted as a substitute. The team adjusts the roles as the heist approaches.

Walter's plan shifts as Simpson confesses he has been working undercover for the Turkish police, changing the risk dynamics. The gang resolves to improvise a new approach: they will steal the dagger and surrender, claiming they found explosives in their car.

To establish an alibi, the gang attends a crowded Turkish wrestling match. Walter, Simpson, and Giulio slip away toward the Topkapı Palace, while Elizabeth and Cedric distract a lighthouse keeper to adjust the timing of the searchlights.

That evening, Walter, Simpson, and Giulio execute the dagger theft from the Topkapı Palace Treasury. A bird flies in and becomes trapped in the room, going unnoticed by the thieves. They deliver the dagger to Joseph, owner of the traveling fair display, for smuggling it out of Turkey.

The theft triggers the palace alarm when the trapped bird arcs the timing of events. Major Ali Tufan confronts the thieves and uses Simpson's last message to link all of them to the heist, confirming he knows why they were in Turkey.

Ultimately, the gang is sent to a Turkish prison, where Elizabeth devises a new scheme to steal the Russian Imperial Crown Jewels in the Kremlin.

Some time later, the gang, having seemingly escaped from jail, walks in the snow in a Russian city, signaling a new chapter and a possible Kremlin heist.