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Kees Pulder, a doctor in a small, provincial town, is stirred from his lethargy by the announcement that he is to be visited by Hans van Inge Liedaerd, a famous neuro-surgeon and an old fellow-student. The visit is a memorable one, especially as the distinguished guest steals all the morphine in Doctor Pulder's dispensary. He discovers that the neuro-surgeon is a drug addict, and has previously been imprisoned for false pretences and theft. The shock of this intrusion into the dull routine of his existence makes Doctor Pulder dissatisfied and upset. Setting out to find out more about Van Inge Liedaerd, he comes across the surgeon's former mistress, Madame Mies, herself an addict and occasionally betraying glimpses of a glamorous past. The country doctor becomes involved in a new and increasingly sordid life; he begins to drink heavily, and is finally introduced to an amazing suicide plot which Van Inge Liedaerd had devised for himself and Madame Mies.