Ensuing after the events of Clouseau's disappearance, his bosses at the Surete put a computer into service to elect a new shrewd detective, Sleigh, who turns up just as inept as Clouseau.
Inspector Clouseau disappears, and the Surete wants the world's second best detective to look for him. However, Clouseau's enemy, Dreyfus, rigs the Surete's computer to select, instead, the world's worst detective, N.Y.P.D. Sergeant Clifton Sleigh. Sleigh obtusely bungles his way past assassins and corrupt officials as though he were Clouseau's American cousin.—<[email protected]>
When famed French detective Clouseau goes missing while searching for the Pink Panther diamond, his bosses at the Surete decide they need a detective like him to find him. So they use a computer to select that person. They decide to let Chief Inspector Dreyfus program the computer. But Dreyfus, fearing Clouseau's return, decides to rig the computer to select the opposite. And after doing that, the computer chooses Clifton Sleigh from New York City, and it turns out he is just as inept as Clouseau. When Dreyfus meets him, he can't help but wonder if the two men are related, and just like Clouseau, he wants him dead. Sleigh sets out to find Clouseau, but there are those who would like him not to find Clouseau, so they try to take him out, but like Clouseau, he manages to avoid getting harmed.—[email protected]
When the infamous Chief Inspector Clouseau disappears in his search for the glamorous Pink Panther diamond, Dreyfus is tasked with programming a Huxley 600 supercomputer to select another detective to find him. Fearing that the new detective will indeed find Clouseau, Dreyfus sabotages the computer to instead select the world's worst detective. This comes in the form of incompetent American detective Clifton Sleigh who, as expected, is every bit as bungling as the man he is looking for.—Alexander Dockins
(Note: this is a direct sequel to Trail of the Pink Panther with most of the cast from the previous film)
In Lugash, the fabled Pink Panther diamond is stolen by a man named Gino Rossi (Christopher Reich) (a replay of the opening scene in 'Trail of the Pink Panther') from a museum in the Middle Eastern country of Lugash. Rossi then offers it to Countess Chandra (Joanna Lumley) at her private spa on the island of Majorca. However, the sale is interrupted by Chief Inspector Jacques Clouseau of the Sûreté, France's national police force. When Rossi takes aim at the inspector, Chandra shoots the thief dead and points her gun at the Inspector.
The French government is shaken by the disappearance of its greatest detective, and assigns Chief Inspector Dreyfus (Herbert Lom), aided by "Aldous," the Huxley 600 super computer, to find a suitable candidate to solve the mystery. However, Dreyfus is overjoyed to be free of the dimwitted Clouseau and sabotages the computer, programming it to determine the world's least capable detective. Aldous selects Officer Clifton Sleigh (Ted Wass), a well-meaning but inept New York City policeman.
In New York City, Clifton Sleigh is shown to bungle a sting operation when he dresses up as a woman to nab a purse snatcher, only to get accosted by a leering dirty old man, a pimp and a couple of prostitutes whom think that he's intruding on their turf, and falsely arrested by a pair of beat cops who think he's a prostitute while the purse snatcher steals another woman's purse right under everyone's nose. At the precinct, Clifton's beleaguered commander, Lieutenant Palmyra, is incredulous when he informs Clifton about his assignment to France, but gladly consigns the city's worst detective to the Sûreté.
Meanwhile, a group of Mafia bosses celebrate their improved fortunes since Clouseau's disappearance, and their leader, Bruno (Robert Loggia), assures the inspector's permanent absence by hiring an assassin to kill Clifton before he leaves the U.S. However, Clifton proves to be a difficult target, and the gunman falls to his death while taking aim. Another killer awaits Clifton at the airport in Paris, but he trips and falls on his own knife.
When Clifton enters Dreyfus's office to meet with him for the first time, he bumps into the desk, which pushes the inspector through the open window and into the concrete fishpond below two stories below. While Dreyfus recovers from his injuries as a result of a broken leg, Clifton breaks into Clouseau's apartment, now a museum dedicated to the detective, and is attacked by Cato (Burt Kwouk), Clouseau's manservant. Clifton defeats Cato, who refers the detective to Professor Auguste Balls (Harvey Korman), the creator of Clouseau's disguises and the last known person to see him alive. Clifton goes to the professor's shop, and though Balls has no information on Clouseau, he does offer the detective his latest invention, the Instant Companion, an inflatable, lifelike female doll. Another attempt on Clifton's life only stiffens his resolve, and he notifies Dreyfus that he will begin his investigation at the theft scene in Lugash.
The President of Lugash, who has already spent the insurance money from the stolen diamond, is forewarned of Clifton's arrival and instructs his Secret Police to send the detective back to France before he can collect any evidence. From her private spa on the island of Majorca, Chandra follows Clifton's progress with amusement, and shares the news with Clouseau, whose face is obscured by bandages following plastic surgery.
Clifton's next destination is Nice on the French Riviera, where he meets Sir Charles Litton (David Niven), his wife, Lady Simone Litton (Capucine), and Litton's newer, George (Robert Wagoner). The detective's clumsiness prompts the Littons to ask if he is related to Clouseau. Clifton denies any relation, recalling that the President of Lugash posed the same question. Sir Charles admits to being interrogated by Clouseau shortly after the robbery, but denies any guilt, along with the rumor that he is the brilliant jewel thief known as "The Phantom," and that George is his successor. He then advises Clifton to continue his investigation in Valencia, Spain.
In Spain, Clifton hires a taxicab to bring him to his hotel (driven by the same driver that reporter Marie Jouvet interacted with in the previous film), but soon discovers Bruno's henchmen in pursuit. After barely escaping with his life, Clifton evades the gangsters with the help of his Instant Companion, which creates the illusion of a young couple on vacation. However, a misplaced cigarette causes an air leak in the doll, and Clifton returns to his hotel to re-inflate his "companion" with a gas pipe, while he updates Dreyfus by telephone.
Clifton survives the resulting explosion and travels to Valencia, where a fiesta is underway. Bruno's men continue their pursuit, but Clifton eludes them in the crowded streets and takes refuge in a nightclub, where he meets Juleta Shane (Leslie Ash), a young Englishwoman with an aptitude for martial arts. Together they subdue the gangsters and make their way back to the hotel, where Juleta tries to seduce Clifton. Meanwhile, Dreyfus observes the couple from a nearby window and telephones Valencia police chief Vichila, saying that Clifton is an impostor. When Juleta attempts to poison Clifton's drink, she is shot with a tranquilizer dart by an unseen assailant, and Vichila arrives moments later to arrest Clifton. The police chief informs Clifton that his companion is actually Julie Morgan, Countess Chandra's personal secretary. When a policeman unwittingly drinks the poisoned wine and falls dead in the streets, Clifton takes advantage of this to escape into a crowd of revelers. George drives past and offers the detective a ride to the Litton yacht.
The next morning, Clifton joins the Littons as they sail to Majorca, while Chief Vichila advises Chandra to expect a visit from the detective. Unable to reach the spa from the coast, Clifton par-ascends over the structure, but is shot down by the wheelchair-bound Dreyfus, who is driven over a cliff by the gun's recoil. Unfazed by Clifton's crash-landing through her stained-glass ceiling, Chandra invites the detective to join her and her "lover" for a drink. Clifton is awe-struck by Clouseau's resemblance to actor Roger Moore (credited as Turk Thrust II), and overlooks the inspector's French accent and profound stupidity. Chandra convinces Clifton that Clouseau, under the alias of the late "Gino Rossi," visited the spa a year earlier before traveling to Madrid for plastic surgery. Clifton notifies the Sûreté of his findings and returns to Paris.
Meanwhile, Chandra and Clouseau open their safe to gaze at the Pink Panther, but find only a white glove in its place. "Swine Phantom!" says Clouseau/Roger Moore.
At Sûreté headquarters, Dreyfus declares the case closed after determining (incorrectly) that Clouseau, posing as Rossi, stole the diamond. Relieved to have Clouseau out of his life, Dreyfus sets fire to the inspector's dossier, but the flames quickly engulf his desk, and Clifton comes to the rescue with a fire hose. The force of the water blasts the inspector through the open window and into the concrete fishpond below... again.
In the final scene, on the Litton yacht, George admires the stolen Pink Panther diamond, while Sir Charles comments on the disappearance of his one white glove. Simone hints that she is continuing the legacy of "The Phantom." The three criminals then toast to their success.
In a post-credits scene, the animated Pink Panther is shown stealing the Pink Panther jewel. Realizing it's heavy, he slips out of the shot and drops the diamond off-screen, shattering it; the credits roll shortly afterwards.
