Private detective Moritz Fink (Christoph Waltz) is only supposed to be in the USA to track down the heiress of an industrialist who has recently died. When she puts an end to her life with an overdose right in front of his eyes, Fink suddenly realises he has a unique opportunity to make some big bucks himself. He substitutes Helen Braddy (Nadja Uhl), a woman he has just met by chance, for the dead heiress. If everything works out and the fake heiress gets her hands on the 48 million, Moritz will get half. At least, that’s the deal.
But when Helen gets to Germany she quickly becomes accustomed to a life of luxury. She permits her butler Raimund (Rolf Hoppe) to indulge her every whim and makes the most of her new wealth. When Moritz realises that the ambitious lawyer Dr. Jens von Fabian (Heikko Deutschmann) has designs upon her, it makes him suspicious: he senses that the attorney is only after her money. But the situation only becomes really critical when an Australian by the name of Paul Bloomsbury (Ulrich Wildgruber) registers his claim...