富有的作家斯蒂芬·拜恩试图引诱女佣，但当她反抗时，他杀死了她。斯蒂芬长期嫉妒他的兄弟约翰，他尽力把谋杀的责任归咎于他的兄弟。同样受到斯蒂芬傲慢痴呆症影响的还有他长期受苦的妻子玛乔丽。

1916年，美丽的年轻哑巴海伦是年迈体弱的沃伦夫人的家庭女佣。沃伦夫人的两个成年儿子，阿尔伯特（一位教授）和爱好女色、放肆不羁的史蒂文，也住在沃伦大宅里。当附近发生一连串涉及“患病妇女”的谋杀案时，沃伦夫人开始担心海伦的安全。她请求家庭医生帕里医生为了海伦的安全带她离开。当沃伦大宅内再次发生一起谋杀案时，很明显海伦处于危险之中。

A dead man is found in the basement of a theater, and a detective comes to investigate. He learn that the deceased had been seen near the theater asking for Fabian, the ventriloquist. As the detective questions Fabian in his dressing room, a voice comes from the box in which Fabian's female dummy is stored. When the dummy, Riabouchinska, continues to talk, the detective is annoyed, thinking that the ventriloquist is trying to be funny. But the detective humors him and 'talks' to the dummy, and he soon learns about a web of tensions involving Fabian, his wife, and his manager. Much of the tension concerns the dummy - and there is also a connection with the dead man.

An imaginative boy who frequently makes things up witnesses a murder, but can't get his parents or the police to believe him. The only people taking him seriously are the killers - who live upstairs, know that he saw what they did, and are out to permanently silence him.

Helen Gordon hires Howard Wilton as a handyman to do chores around her house. She doesn't know what she's let herself in for. Insecure and paranoid, Wilton thinks everyone, including Helen, is against him. He suffers from memory lapses and extreme mood swings. She's soon a prisoner in her own house after Wilton locks the doors and tears out the telephone. His mood swings from violence to complacency but after Helen gets a message to the police via a telephone repairman, she finds he is still in the house.

The Stilwins are on vacation to an isolated beach in Mexico. Walking on a deserted jetty, Doug Stilwin gets his leg trapped under one of the logs. All attempts to move the log are futile and Helen Stilwin takes the car to get help. However, an escaped criminal kidnaps her. Will she be able to return to her husband before he drowns?