The disappearance of Sir Julius Hanbury - and the theft of several of his erotic paintings - provide a new puzzle for Morse to solve. Assisted by DS Lewis, Morse interviews everyone at Hanbury House and it is in the course of searching the grounds that he finds Sir Julius' body, appropriately enough, in the family mausoleum. The pathologist notes that he was the victim of a frenzied attack but the lack of blood at scene leaves the police to conclude that he murdered elsewhere. Sir Julius was a candidate to become the Master of an Oxford college and was known to have a have had a bitter rivalry with another candidate for the position. When Roger Meadows, a friend of the Hanbury's au pair, is killed in a car accident, Morse concludes that that he too was murdered. Jealousy, revenge and greed all play part in the deaths.
米奇(比利·克里斯托 Billy Crystal 饰)在广播电台的广告部工作,直到三十九岁之前,米奇都认为自己拥有着完美而幸福的人生,然而,在此之后,他便开始走上了下坡路,除了事业上陷入了瓶颈期外,他的内心也渐渐开始失去安全感,荒芜如同沙漠。
菲尔(丹尼尔·斯特恩 Daniel Stern 饰)是米奇最好的朋友,常年生活在强势的妻子和岳父的压迫之下,导致他的性格十分内向而压抑。某日,一个年轻的女孩忽然出现在了菲尔的身边,声称自己怀上了他的孩子。艾德(布鲁诺·柯比 Bruno Kirby 饰)已人到中年,但童年时代的创伤让他对感情失去了信任,依然流连于百花丛中不愿安定下来。这三个男人,为了庆祝米奇三十九岁生日而踏上了寻欢作乐的荒诞旅途。
A cat burglar joins the circus to escape the police, and allows the ringmaster to surgically implant him with wings. He continues his thefts during his off-hours, but gets involved in the problems of people around him, while also romancing one of the other circus performers.