Rival gangs are fighting for control of Hamburg's notorious harbor district, spreading fear and terror in the process. In the streets, houses and clubs, the thriller shows the lives of a handful of people whose fates will be decided within 24 hours.

When another dead elderly gentleman is fished out of the Thames, Inspector David Perkins is convinced that the gorilla gang is active again. On a doll found with the body, characters of an African language are discovered. Together with Sergeant Pepper and language specialist Susan MacPherson, the search for the head of the gang begins.

The country estate of Count Claudieuse is located near Paris. One night in 1871, it goes up in flames. Two shots are fired, the count is critically injured, and the countess and her children escape the flames with the help of the feeble-minded Cocoleu. Cocoleu accuses Jacques von Beaucoran from the neighboring estate of being the perpetrator. Jacques protests his innocence.

A woman emotionally kills her twin sister and slips into her role, but the dead's dark past catches up with her.