 Theo, a used-furniture dealer, and his lover, Vivien, like to enhance their love-making through dressing-up and role-playing. He pretends he s notorious murderer Dr. Hawley Harvey Crippen; she pretends she s either Crippen s wife, Belle Elmore, or Crippen s mistress, Ethel Le Neve. When they re not having sex, Theo and Vivien engage in a lot of bickering, but continue to live together above Theo s London shop. Entering their lives one day is Reingard, a female German photographer who s been observing the couple, whom she finds intriguing. Reingard moves into one of the rooms above the shop; under her influence, Theo begins to shed his Crippen persona in favor of that of another notorious figure, German flying ace Baron von Richthofen, a development which threatens to impact Theo s relationship with Vivien.