Unterm Birnbaum

Abel Hradscheck the owner of an inn in the Oderbruch country faces financial ruin For this state of affairs Ursula his wife and former actress is by no means free of blame She is a newcomer to the area and even after eleven years in the area still a stranger A Cracow company announces that a moneycollector is on his way to the innkeeper Mr Szulski arrives and the debts are settled with money supposedly stemming from an inheritance The next day Szulski departs but according to the maid and the stableboy behaves in a very strange manner Soon afterwards his carriage is discovered in the Oder River but there is no trace of the drowned man Hradschecks neighbor starts casting suspicion on the innkeeper The Counselor of Justice who heads the investigations has the spot under the pear tree dug out A dead body is exhumed