Martins arrives in Vienna expecting to meet Lime but learns from neighbor Koch that Lime has just been killed.

Martins rushes to the Central Cemetery and attends Lime's funeral, sobbing openly.

Calloway takes Martins to a bar, buys him drinks, and accuses Lime of being Vienna's worst criminal racketeer.

Martins threatens Calloway with violence and vows to avenge Lime by proving his innocence himself.

Martins meets Kurtz, who claims Lime's dying words asked that his old friend be looked after.

Martins visits Anna Schmidt, who reveals that Lime's own personal doctor and driver were both present at the accident.

Herr Koch tells Martins that a third, unidentified man also helped carry Lime's body at the accident scene.

Martins discovers that Herr Koch has been murdered outside his building, confirming a conspiracy around Lime's death.

Calloway presents Martins with evidence that Lime sold diluted penicillin that killed and injured many children.

Martins spots Harry Lime alive, watching from a shadowed doorway near a late-night newspaper kiosk.

Martins meets Lime at the Prater Ferris Wheel, and Lime calmly admits he staged his own death to avoid arrest.

Anna refuses to help Martins lure Lime into police custody, despite being shown evidence of his crimes.

Lime arrives at the café rendezvous but spots Martins on the phone with police and immediately flees to the sewers.

In the sewers, Lime shoots and kills police officer Bates, then Martins fires and wounds Lime.

Lime's second funeral ends with Calloway telling Martins he has won, but Martins says only that he has lost.

Rollo Martins arrives in Vienna to join his childhood friend Harry Lime, only to find him apparently dead. Investigating the suspicious circumstances, Martins uncovers a web of lies surrounding Lime's accident. He slowly discovers that Lime faked his own death to avoid arrest for selling diluted penicillin that killed children. Martins meets Lime at a famous Ferris wheel, where Lime shows no remorse and admits everything with chilling calm. Torn between loyalty and morality, Martins finally agrees to act as bait in a police sting to capture his friend. The chase ends in Vienna's sewers, where Martins kills his wounded friend in a mercy shot and walks away feeling only defeat.

The headline events of Harry Lime's conspiracy and Rollo Martins's fatal betrayal

A journalist in the Frankfurt airport mistakes Martins for the celebrated novelist Benjamin Dexter.

Crabbin meets Martins at the hotel and formally mistakes him for the renowned author Benjamin Dexter.

Martins accepts Crabbin's offer of free hotel lodgings without correcting the case of mistaken identity.

Martins tries to punch Calloway outside the bar and is knocked down by Calloway's police driver.

Martins visits Dr. Winkler, who says almost nothing about the accident but confirms two other men were present.

Cooler warmly greets Martins and keeps refilling his glass while gently discouraging any further investigation.

Drunk after visiting Cooler, Martins arrives at Anna's apartment hoping for romance and is turned away.

Martins announces to Crabbin's literary audience that his current work in progress is titled The Third Man.

Martins tells the literary audience he has never heard of James Joyce, stunning the room into silence.

Calloway's subordinate Paine apprehends Martins on the darkened staircase after the literary event ends.

Calloway reveals that Cooler personally phoned the Austrian police to report Martins's visits to Herr Koch.

Calloway intercepts the Russian patrol at a checkpoint and arranges for Anna to be released from custody.

Martins visits Kurtz a second time and discovers that Kurtz is not bald — his toupee hangs in the hallway.

Martins warns Cooler that police know Lime is alive, allowing Cooler to slip away unimpeded.

Calloway closes his account by noting that Crabbin still sought reimbursement for Benjamin Dexter's hotel expenses.

Before arriving in Vienna, Martins is already mistaken for a famous novelist, setting off a comic subplot that runs through the entire story. He meets Lime's circle of associates one by one — Crabbin, Winkler, Cooler — each of whom deflects and deceives while nudging him toward the truth. A farcical evening at a literary event, where Martins poses as a celebrated writer, ends abruptly with his arrest by Calloway's subordinate. Calloway then peels back further layers: Cooler has been feeding intelligence to the police all along, and Anna has been detained by Russian authorities over false papers. These scenes reveal the pervasive dishonesty that defines postwar Vienna and fill in the gaps the main plot skips over. Together they paint a picture of a city where almost everyone is playing a role they did not choose.

The supporting scenes of mistaken identity, deception, and investigation across postwar Vienna

Koch tells Martins that Lime died instantly from the car impact, directly contradicting accounts that Lime gave last words.

Martins dreams of being lost in the woods and seeing Lime, then wakes to a phone call from Kurtz.

Anna realizes during conversation with Martins that every one of Lime's close friends was present at his supposed death.

Dr. Winkler shows Martins a Jansenist crucifix depicting Christ with arms raised, linked to the doctrine of predestined salvation.

Herr Koch reveals that Kurtz removed all of Lime's belongings from the flat after the accident.

A young boy standing in the crowd outside Koch's murdered building stares directly and suspiciously at Martins.

Calloway admits to Martins at the police station that he had Martins followed throughout his entire amateur investigation.

Martins drinks alone at the Oriental bar and convinces himself he is in love with Anna Schmidt.

Anna dismisses Martins's declaration of love by asking what color his eyes are, proving she barely knows him.

Calloway shows Martins that the newspaper kiosk where Lime vanished conceals an entrance to Vienna's labyrinthine sewer system.

Lime argues on the Ferris wheel that distant people resemble dots, and asks if Martins would pity one if it stopped moving.

Lime reveals that Kurtz urged him to arrange an accident for Martins, but he refused out of old loyalty.

As Lime walks away from the Ferris wheel, Martins calls out a warning not to trust him, but Lime is too far to hear.

Mortally wounded in the sewers, Lime whistles his old signature tune to guide Martins to where he is dying.

Unable to bear Lime's suffering, Martins shoots him dead; Lime's last words, 'Bloody fool,' leave their meaning uncertain.

From the moment Koch describes Lime dying instantly — directly contradicting all other accounts — small revelations begin accumulating and eroding Martins's certainty. A crucifix tied to predestination, a missing toupee, a child's suspicious stare, and a lover's devastating logic each chip away at his belief in a world of clear right and wrong. Calloway discloses that he has been watching Martins throughout, and the Oriental bar becomes the scene of Martins's private surrender to grief and misplaced romance. The confrontation on the Ferris wheel forces Martins to hear Lime's chilling philosophy firsthand, ending with a warning Lime never hears. After failing to win Anna's help or her love, Martins agrees to the sting but cannot bring himself to raise the alarm when Lime appears at the café. The final tragedy plays out in the sewers, where Lime's haunting whistle draws Martins to him and a mercy killing leaves Martins with nothing but Lime's ambiguous last words.