A strange, red circle appears on the neck of a man saved from the guillotine. What is its mysterious meaning? Tragically, it turns out to be something of a family curse, as each generation thereafter bears the same sign, which in turn leads to blackmail and murder.
Meant to be a diatribe against yellow journalism and current social ills, this weakly limned drama by Josef von Baky features a reporter who works for one of the tabloid papers. The reporter digs up dirt on the past life of a local hotel owner, and wanting to take full advantage of the muck, he strings out his revelations in a series of perjorative, damning articles on the man. The result of this campaign turns out to be much worse than simply ruining the hotel owner's reputation.
The old and sick detective superintendent Bärlach has to investigate the murder of his colleague Ulrich Schmied, who was murdered in the middle of the country road.
Lashing rain, thunderstorms, fog and a godforsaken, eerie train station: the mood among the six travelers who have to wait for their connecting train here in the middle of the night is extremely tense. In keeping with the gloomy scenery, the station master also tells his involuntary guests the story of the ghost train ...
