Die Spur führt ins Verderben.

Edgar Allen Poe fanatic and literature professor Dudley (Heinz Hoenig) is an extraordinary chamber scholar, in whose life the mysterious Annabel (Stephanie Philipp) suddenly enters, similar to the title of a poem by his beloved writer. Annabel gives theatre performances in the auditorium of a Dutch university and Dudley is completely in love with her. They have a fantastic weekend together, but then she disappears as mysteriously as she had come. Dudley embarks on an endless quest that is stiff with Poe symbolism. It takes him to the red light district of Amsterdam, but also to the jet-set of Berlin and the beaches of the Baltic Sea.