年老多病的富农张裕福与年轻后妻花月英过着毫无爱情的生活。月英难以克制情欲，与长工李琦相好。洗衣姑娘王秀英已将贞操献与李琦，琦父让她与秀英结婚。琦母李洪氏却见儿子与主妇相爱，便欲趁机占有张家财产，向月英献计害死了张裕福。好景不长，李琦与张裕福和前妻所生女儿小金相好，并令其怀孕生子。深夜，李洪氏与月英逼李琦活埋小金刚生的婴儿，李琦良心受到极大刺激，亲手打死月英，李洪氏亦为坍塌的屋顶砸死。

Merle Kramer works as a stenographer for a psychiatrist. She is casually dating Karl Benson, a private eye and former cop. Merle mentions in passing that one of her boss's patients is an author with recurring dreams of murdering his wife, and she includes the fact that the wife owns valuable jewels. When the wife is found murdered in a manner identical to that of her husband's dream, the husband is naturally the prime suspect. But as the investigation of the police and insurance investigator Joe Cooper proceeds, it turns out that several people in the case, including Merle, are not what they seem. Written by Jim Beaver