The popular trapeze artist Cora is married to the respected doctor Frank Crippen. After a party at the Crippens' house, Cora suddenly disappears. Apparently, she traveled to Brazil alone overnight. However, a friend of the couple is skeptical and calls the police. While excavating the garden, Inspector Düwell makes a gruesome discovery: body parts. Meanwhile, the prime suspect, Dr. Crippen, has already gone into hiding...

A man is accused of murdering his wife. The state prosecutor assumes he did the deed to spend more time with his lover. But the woman in question says that his wife committed suicide in her presence and that the accused is innocent. Despite the objections of the prosecutor, the accused is set free and is found dead shortly thereafter. The prosecutor decides to pursue the case and comes upon a band of criminals, who sell German state secrets. Shortly before the investigation comes to a close, a woman is murdered. When a witness asserts to have seen him near the woman's dead body, the prosecutor himself ends up in court and must now prove his innocence.

When they start losing family members and neighbors due to WWII and the Nazi government's policies, a quiet married couple becomes disillusioned and begins spreading leaflets against the government - a crime punishable by death.

Karl May bricht 1899 zu seiner ersten großen Reise auf. Zu dieser Zeit ist er schon ein bekannter Schriftsteller und will dem Vorwurf entgegentreten, dass er die Länder, über die er schreibt, gar nicht kennen würde. Auf Ceylon beschießt er, ab sofort ganz anders zu schreiben als bisher und ein „Monograph der Menschheitsseele“ zu werden. Daheim im Kaiserreich beginnt derweil eine langwierige Kampagne gegen den „Old Shatterhand aus Radebeul“.