The cozy harbor pub "Störtebeker" is run by the ship's cook Karl Brammer together with his wife Mary. One day Karl is caught in a small smuggling operation and is sent to prison for three months. Mary prefers to conceal the truth and tells him that her husband is back at sea. But then fate strikes: the supposed ship goes down with man and mouse and everyone who believes they can inherit something from Karl storms Mary's house. With so much "sympathy" from the grieving relatives, the man believed to be dead has to put things in order himself.