A very nervous man named Cartwright comes into Perry's office to have the neighbor arrested for his howling dog. He states that the howling is a sign that there is a death in the neighborhood. He also wants a will written giving his estate to the lady living at the neighbors house. It is all very mysterious and by the next day, his will is changed and Cartwright is missing, as is the lady of the house next door. Perry has a will and a retainer and must find out whether he has a client or a beneficiary.

Herman Brandt, a handsome but overly conceited actor, lives in the same apartment building in Vienna as Carola and John Pointer and their 18-year-old daughter Mariette. One day, as Carola leaves the building, Brandt catches her in the stairwell and proposes she "visit" him at his apartment after everyone has gone to bed. Shocked and offended at his brazenness, she complains to the building manager, who orders Brandt to leave. He refuses, so the Pointers decide that they will move out instead. While they're packing, the police show up at their apartment with some bad news--Brandt has been found murdered, shot in the head. Inspector Muller, the detective investigating the murder, discovers that there is more to this case than meets the eye.