Paul's women try to get in touch with him. They insist to two men waiting with them that Paul will be getting the money from his grandfather. The men begin sexually assaulting one of the women, and the other grabs a gun and begins shooting to ward them off.

James Fletcher Chase reminisces on his past, including post-war 1945, JFK's assassination in 1963, and the moon landing in 1969. He remarks on 1973 as the year "the milk went sour" and the kid (Getty's grandson) went missing.

Gail Getty returns from camping to find reporters asking questions about the kidnapping and ransom note. She panics, but her boyfriend doesn't seem overly worried and thinks Paul is just on another bender.

Getty finds out his grandson was kidnapped in the paper but doesn't seem perturbed.

Gail contacts John Paul Jr. and tells him what happened and about the ransom note. Jr. advises her to wait on it and assumes Paul will just show up, not thinking the kidnapping is real because the ransom note didn't specify an amount the kidnappers want. Jr. freaks out when Gail hangs up on him after telling him she'll call Getty.

Jr. visits his dad, who only offers him a private jet to use to go to Rome to look for Paul. Jr. explains that he can't go because he's still wanted by the police. Getty determines they'll call someone else to sort out the mess: Chase. He also suggests that it was Jr.'s fault for ratting out Paul's addiction and preventing him from repaying the debt he owed.

Bullimore tells Getty, Jr., and Chase that Paul told him he'd owed money to the mafia before leaving for Rome. Getty orders Chase to take the next plane to Rome and find out what's going on.

Getty informs his son Gordon that Paul was kidnapped in Rome and advises him to get armed bodyguards and take his kids out of school so they can all protect themselves. Getty also has his secretary call Ronald and tell him the same. Ronald insults him while on speakerphone and disregards the need for extra security.

Chase arrives in Rome. He hands out a lot of tips to the hotel staff. He hands a young staff member $100 and asks him to let someone in the mafia know that he's in town with money to ransom Paul.

Chase goes to speak with an Italian inspector who doesn't seem concerned. The inspector explains that kidnapping is usually handled as a personal matter, with a period of negotiation and that Paul will likely eventually be released unharmed.

Chase continues to put out feelers around town to gather information about Paul's last known whereabouts. He goes to visit Gail, who explains that Paul wasn't living at home and that he'd been having a difficult time lately. Chase wonders whether Gail's husband could have been involved in Paul's kidnapping, but Gail is sure not because he's not clever enough.

Gail and Chase go to Paul's place to investigate. Chase sees the bullet holes in the walls. Paul's girlfriend Martina shows up with her sister. Chase quizzes them about where they found the ransom note and when. They are defensive but he explains that he's just trying to figure out who left the note.

Chase finds a business card left in his boots outside his hotel room door by a stranger telling him to go to a specific restaurant. He finds that Paul Getty did many of the paintings hanging in the restaurant. He convinces Bertolini, the owner, to sit with him and quizzes him about Paul.

Bertolini tells Chase that Paul was always talking about going to Morocco. He reveals that Paul also owed him money and that if he saw him now, he'd kidnap Paul. Chase offers Bertolini money to pay off Paul's debts. Chase says Paul isn't in Morocco or America because his passport is still in Italy, so he must be here. He tells Bertolini that he's in Italy to settle Paul's debts and get him back, no questions asked and no police. He leaves behind a briefcase full of money.

The young bellhop Fabio brings Chase another a deck of cards and tells him someone will meet him at 8. A kid with a bike summons Chase from where he's playing cards with Italian men and leads him to another location, where he meets with a group of mafia men in an underground cavernous room.

Gail and the kids get on a jet to wait for Chase and Paul. She tells the rest of the kids that Chase has found Paul and will be joining them in England.

Penelope is having an affair with her flight instructor and cautious about making sure Getty doesn't know. She says she has to leave to go with Getty to meet Paul, as Chase is putting him on a plane back to England.

The mafia men tell Chase that they can't do business with him and can't help him. They assure him he'll be the first to hear if anything changes. They even return his briefcase full of money. The mafioso tells Chase that nobody has Paul.

Chase goes to get Gail and the kids off of the jet, telling her that he doesn't have Paul back today. While walking around, Chase comes across the statue man who Paul passed before he was kidnapped. The statue man points him back towards Paul's apartment, where Chase retrieves the bullets from the wall.

Chase tracks down Marcello, another young man (a street artist) who Paul lived with. Marcello explains that he was in Positano. He claims that Paul was supposed to meet him there, but Paul never showed up. Marcello heard about the kidnapping. Chase demands that Marcello give him a detailed accounting of everywhere he and Paul went and everyone they saw in the last two weeks. Chase goes to see a movie.

Later, the former CIA operative continues to inquire all over Rome about Paul's whereabouts. He finally winds up in the same club Paul wandered into right before he was taken. The young woman Paul kissed approaches Chase and gives him information.

Chase informs Gail that Paul was creative and that he was writing a movie, showing her his journal. He tells her that the movie Paul saw that he also recently saw had a fake kidnapping scene and Paul wrote one into his movie too. He suggests that the twin sisters are not concerned about Paul's disappearance. Gail insists that Paul wouldn't do this. Chase explains that the waitress told him she saw Paul after the note said he was already kidnapped. He believes that Paul cooked up the scam after he failed to get money from his parents or grandpa. He tells her he's leaving for England.

Gail tells her husband what Chase thinks. He agrees, but Gail can't believe that Paul would do this.

Chase lands back in England and tells Getty his theory about Paul orchestrating his own kidnapping. Getty wants to call a press conference to put a stop to this kidnapping business.

Jr. goes to a bar and spots a woman. Back in Rome, Gail sneaks out while her husband is drawing her a bath. She goes to the bar where Paul was last seen. In England, Jr. flirts up the woman until Getty's press conference comes on the TV.

Getty tells everyone that he will not be paying a cent, claiming to protect his other grandchildren from potential kidnappers. In the bar, Jr. is drunk but unsurprised at Getty's pronouncement, calling him the meanest human alive. The woman leaves when she realizes who Jr. is and that he's the dad of the kidnapped teen.

Gail winds up at the fountain where Paul was right before the kidnapping. The statue man gets her attention and tells her exactly what happened when Paul was taken. She takes this as confirmation that Paul was taken against his will. She begs him to please tell the police what he told her, even giving him her ring, then leaves.

When Gail gets back to her house, she tells her husband Lang to leave. We see a flash of Paul chained in a barren room.