18-year-old orphan Sylvi is unable to refuse the marriage proposal made by her guardian, Aksel. The young wife is unhappy with her elderly husband and loves her childhood friend Viktoria instead. Sylvi sinks into despair when Aksel refuses to grant her a divorce.

Poke and Pena, two private investigators in debt, see an advertisement in the newspaper about Dr. Peltonen's disappearance and the promised reward for finding him. The boys retreat to investigate the case in a house they have rented in the countryside, which happens to be next door to the criminal gang that kidnapped the doctor. The gang's boss, 'Synkkä' (Gloomy), and his sister, 'Kaunotar' (Beauty), try to distract the boys by hiring them to guard their villa.

This love story finds a lonely teacher resisting the advances of an interested co-worker. She is fearful of affection and relationships due to a previous romance that did not work out. The small-town school marm tries to help a male student who has been suspended for drunkenness. She tutors the young man, and soon the two engage in a tender and passionate love affair in which both people reach out and touch each other physically and emotionally.