When Erica Maerlant is shot dead during a secret dance rehearsal at her luxurious villa, the Maerlant household turns out to be a serpent's nest of intrigue where everyone has a motive for the murder.
Willy, the son of baron Van Hergershuizen, finds himself disinherited after he marries an untitled girl. His wife decides to take action and applies for the job of the baron's housekeeper.
Dirk van der Kooy returns to the Dutch East Indies for a five year stint as the administrator of a sugar factory. His second wife Betje, however, unexpectedly decides to join him. Once there, she finds out that Dirk has a daughter from an earlier marriage, leading to misunderstandings galore...
On his wedding day, mere hours before the statute of limitations for his crimes expires, revengeful mobsters abduct former criminal Jean Verdier. The gang leader's daughter - who's still in love with Jean - tries to stall the police until the clock strikes twelve and he can no longer be prosecuted.
When his colleague presents him with (forged) evidence of his wife Sylvette's unfaithfulness, factory owner Jean Sourdier kills him in a fit of rage. After fifteen years in prison he is determined to take revenge on his wife by killing Ninette, a daughter from her second marriage.
Three students decide to share a flat, each courting a young woman. While they pass the time teasing their rival Piet Janssen (de Klit) and nosy neighbour Mr. Smallebroek, rumours and arguments threaten to drive the boys and their crushes apart.
