A man arrives at an isolated mountain inn clutching a small box. During a momentary power-cut the box suddenly goes missing, and its owner is stricken with terror. To satisfy the curiosity of the guests at the inn he begins to tell his tragic story. The man, Roland Brissot, was once a struggling artist whose only talent was for painting pictures that no one wanted to own. One day, he meets an Italian chef who persuades him to buy a talisman from him for one sou...