At a magical institute where pupils train to retrieve valuable information from the future to assist in present war efforts, Director MacDonald reports to authorities that his newest student Alice was found dead in a nearby maze where lovers are known to rendezvous. Assigned to the case is Detective Ritter. Upon arrival at the institute, he finds Alice's roommate, Margaret Andrewes, to be confrontational and later learns of her affair with the director.  That evening, a bird suddenly appears in Ritter’s room, only to quickly vanish. He also sees a figure in the maze. She introduces herself as the victim and claims to be meeting a “Curdie.” In the morning, Ritter interviews the school’s best seer, Peter Fischer, who was with the Director on the night of the crime. Fischer explains that after foreseeing Alice as his future wife, he became jealous of her affair with the director (“Curdie” is his nickname) and purposely delayed his meeting with her in the maze that night. He also warns Ritter of the director’s dangerous meddling with the fabric of time, resulting in strange visitors from other timelines. Ritter then drags Margaret Andrewes into the director’s study and explains that upon foreseeing the director’s affair with Alice, she notified her past self to murder her competition. Fearing a permanent distortion of reality, Ritter also threatens to close down the institute. In the scuffle that follows, Ritter shoots the director. However, time rewinds at Fischer’s hand, nullifying the shots. Ritter’s supervisor rejects his recommendation to close the school, on account of its importance to the war effort.  Upon leaving, Ritter sees Alice and tells her there is nothing at the institute for her.