The old, sickly Demeter Lapussa is a tyrant in the family. He forces his granddaughter, the beautiful Henriette, to marry baron Hátszegi, although the girl loves the penniless Vámhidy Szilárd. The two lovers attempt to commit suicide, then are torn away from each other.
In the thirties, the poor living by the Romanian-Hungarian border were forced to smuggle if they wanted to survive. Mihály, a Hungarian peasant, kills a border guard while fleeing. He is fed up with smuggling and wants to put an end to it, yet he needs money to get a job, so he embarks on another turn.
Private inspector Hável happens to travel on the train which is attacked at Biatorbágy. His attention is drawn to a suspicious man, and in the next few days he confirms that it was indeed him who committed the crime. Yet the police accuses not the lunatic Marschalkó but the communists. Summary justice is declared.
