To his Victorian London friends, Stephen Lowry is a heartbroken widower. Only his housemaid Lily knows that far from dying of gastroenteritis his wife was slowly poisoned by her husband - information she is happy to use to improve her position in the household and to make sure she stays close to Stephen. As his own prospects improve with a business partnership and a romance more of his own class, Stephen decides that Lily must go. Unfortunately for him, his first attempt gives her even more of a hold over him.
故事发生在充满了异域风情的马来西亚,莱斯利(贝蒂·戴维斯 Bette Davis 饰)在那里和丈夫罗伯特(赫伯特·马歇尔 Herbert Marshall 饰)一起经营着一间橡胶种植园,日子过得十分安逸。某天,罗伯特外出公干,留下莱斯利一人看家,哪知道很快,便传来了噩耗,莱斯利开枪将一个名叫大卫的男人给打死了,而莱斯利坚称大卫想要袭击她,她开枪杀人纯属自卫。 罗伯特相信了莱斯利所言,找到了律师霍华德(詹姆斯·斯蒂芬森 James Stephenson 饰)为妻子辩护,可是,让他们没有想到的是,大卫的妻子哈蒙德太太(盖尔·桑德加德 Gale Sondergaard 饰)手上握有莱斯利和大卫偷情的证据。