Helena's mirror, a valuable piece of jewelry, has been stolen from a museum in Bremen and is to be smuggled across the Alps to the border. Alex Roscher, the border guard, catches the smugglers but gets caught up in a shootout.
The emergency braking of the Orient Express causes chaos. When the lights are switched back on, lawyer Branko is found murdered in his compartment. The Rarna Criminal Investigation Department starts investigating immediately. There are several suspects: Baron Hübner and his divorced wife, the seemingly too staid private detective Holzer and the mysterious Vera Panaid. Suddenly, the mysterious case takes a surprising turn...
Kathrin von Hagen runs an extremely successful guesthouse in the stylish Löwenberg Castle. Kathrin also has a passion that she pursues with dedication: writing. She would love to see her latest crime play on stage, but the publisher Thomas Brand, who is currently a guest in her hotel, doesn't think much of the work. Some of Kathrin's friends decide to help her by performing a key scene in the play on site and thereby prove to Brand that the play has dramatic potential. No sooner said than done: the castle's library is chosen as the performance venue and quietly decorated to create an atmospheric atmosphere...
Gabriele is engaged to Rainer who goes to war in 1914. When her father loses all his money she agrees to marry the affluent Robert. Then she is notified that Rainer has been wounded, is dying and has asked to see her one more time.