Die Schlüssel plot
Philip Martin returns from Germany after his military service and visits his brother and fashion photographer Eric, who is disappointed when Philip wants to travel on to Dublin that same afternoon. An Irish friend of his, Sean Reynolds, had just been run over in Hamburg, and made Philip promise to visit his wife in Dublin just before his death. In the end he doesn't travel straight to Dublin, but moves in for a few days at the Royal Falcon Hotel in Maidenhead. There a collection of poems is delivered to him. After Philip has spent several days reading this unusual reading material, he is found shot dead one morning.