It is the 65th birthday of Wilhelm Lehmann, foreman of a chemical company. All members of the large family are expected. Preparations are also being made in the company: Wilhelm is to be awarded the »Labor banner« and, as every year, the sons are responsible for the may bowl. But instead of family members, telegrams with rejections flutter into the house.

The wrenching story of a woman sentenced in 1934 to ten years in prison for antifascist activities. The love between her and her fiancée enables her to survive the tribulations of her time in prison, where she is one of few political prisoners.

One morning, a tailor was sitting at the window sewing. A shopkeeper came by and loudly offered plum jam for sale. The little tailor spent his last penny to treat himself. But the sweet smell of plum jam attracted a lot of flies, and when the tailor struck, seven fell by the wayside. This deed seemed so remarkable to the little tailor that he made himself a belt on which it was written that he had killed seven in one go.

Unknown assailants threaten the life of British scientist Dr. Ronald Fergusson. Only by chance does the attempt to shoot him in the street fail. Fergusson, who does not believe in police protection, hires private detective Weber for his personal safety. And time and again, the headstrong scientist makes it difficult for his bodyguard to fend off further assassination attempts. Despite being expressly forbidden to do so, he leaves the house. Full of bad suspicions, Weber looks for his client in the morgue, but Vivian, Fergusson's employee, doesn't know the dead man...