Shadows and Fog

A vigilante mob gathers in the night, claiming they are searching for a serial killer and insist that Kleinman lend his help. The demand pulls him into a dangerous pursuit he did not seek. The tension marks the city with fear as the search begins.

Kleinman's landlady hands him a bag of pepper, a simple defense against the mob's frenzy. The gesture hints at the hostile situation and the need for personal protection. Kleinman tucks the bag away as the danger grows.

Irmy and Paul quarrel about marriage and having a baby, exposing the strain in their relationship. Paul leaves the tent to sleep with Marie in another circus tent. Distressed, Irmy runs to the city and seeks refuge in a brothel.

A student named Jack showers Irmy with increasingly large sums to have sex with him. She finally agrees when the offer reaches $700. This decision pulls her deeper into the city's exploitative world.

Kleinman visits a coroner's house and shares a glass of sherry. After he leaves, the coroner is murdered by the killer, setting off a murder investigation linked to the sherry's fingerprints.

Kleinman goes to the police station to protest a local family's eviction. Inside, officers discuss the coroner's murder and claim there is a clue on the sherry glass—the fingerprints that could identify the killer. The atmosphere grows tense as fear spreads through the station.

Irmy is arrested at the brothel for prostitution. She is fined $50 and released, and she meets Kleinman outside. The encounter tightens their uneasy alliance against the city's paranoia.

Kleinman and Irmy wander the city together, observing grim scenes—a man peeping into a woman's room, a starving mother and child, a church. The images deepen their sense of social decay and shared vulnerability. After their urban tour, they decide to return.

Paul arrives in the city looking for Irmy and enters a bar where Jack is drinking. Jack recalls a bizarre sword-swallower encounter, which shocks Paul. The encounter adds tension to the triangle as Paul gauges his rival's influence.

Kleinman and Irmy attempt to return to his home but are refused entry by his fiancée. They head to the pier, where they are ambushed by the vigilante mob who have found the sherry glass. Kleinman uses pepper spray to break free from the crowd.

Irmy and Paul reunite, and though Paul first seems ready to kill Irmy for sleeping with another man, they put aside their quarrel when they discover a starving woman murdered, with a baby left nearby. They decide to keep the child and return to the circus. The shocking crime anchors their new resolve.

From a rival at work, Kleinman learns that the circus is departing. He resolves to follow the troupe to stay close to Irmy and Paul. This shift marks a move from official investigation to personal involvement.

At the circus, Kleinman meets Armstead, a magician he admires. The murderer arrives and tries to kill them, but Armstead thwarts the attack. Kleinman becomes Armstead's assistant, joining the act.

Irmy and Paul continue their careers as circus performers, now raising the child they found. The new life amid the circus represents resilience amid chaos, closing the tale with a fragile note of hope.