The suicide of a young girl provides the framework for this mystery. The story really begins when an enigmatic police inspector appears at the girl's wealthy family's home and begins questioning them. Flashbacks reveal their role in the death. First her father fires her from his factory because she was a troublemaker who incited a group of workers to ask for a raise. Later she is hired in a shop and her sister's fiance helps her find her own apartment. She soon finds herself unable to make it financially and asks her mother for help. Her mother refuses and she must then take charity. Later her brother becomes a criminal after getting his sister pregnant. The inspector draws the conclusion that each party was partly responsible for her death.