The country estate of Rödbergshyttan is surrounded by heavily fragrant roses in every color. There lives the beautiful Gabriella, who Christer loves, and an invitation to their engagement party is the reason for Puck and Einar to travel there. But the rose-scented idyll soon turn into a stifling background when Puck finds Gabriella's grandfather poisoned in his bed. Little by little we learn that the relations between the people living at the estate is everything but uncomplicated, and that there is a sexual frustration behind every well polished marriage. The question is to what extent beautiful Gabriella is involved in the intrigues and how much of a coincidence it is that her grandfather is killed just when Christer is in the house.

Christmas 1945. In a train from Stockholm to Berlin are a motley collection. It is the failure of the author Gunnar who wants to leave his old life and make a contribution in Berlin; physician Henry who plan to marry Marie and likewise Henry's current wife Karin, who he plans to kill during the journey, the middle-aged gay couple Pompe and Sixten, a soldier going to Uppsala but is on the wrong train: the cheerful and cynical old Margaret, and a dressed elf and a surly conductor. With the train are also a number of Baltic refugees accompanied by two nuns to be sent to Germany.

The old man PETTSON and his cat FINDUS live on a small farm way out in the countryside in Sweden. Christmas is approaching, and Pettson has given Findus the rash promise that THE TOMTE will come around with gifts for him at Christmas Eve. Pettson does not believe in the Tomte, but in order not to disappoint his cat, he decides to build an artificial Tomte - a mechanical TOMTE MACHINE. Pettson has a hard time keeping the project secret from Findus and getting the machine to actually work in due time. But somehow a mysterious magical force interferes...