Professor Hermes conducts a research on fear, for which he passes contract with a patient to live a supposedly empty mansion. He's counting on his assistant Chico Mota to play a phantom, but soon comes about that there are phantoms (plural) in there.
A man exiled in Paris makes various trips to Portugal after the Carnation Revolution. Each trip is represented by a woman.
Popular in the riverside area of Porto, Micas raised her daughter, Madalena, at the cost of sacrifice, as her father emigrated to Brazil. With a happy voice, Madalena works on unloading the coal, seeing her loves thwarted by her humble condition. Barata, another typical figure who makes a living from expedients, helps Madalena's father - meanwhile returned, to "register" her - in a kidnapping plan capable of facilitating her reconciliation with Micas, who is reluctant... Things get complicated, but happiness ends up triumphing.
Jorge Lopes is a journalist in a Lisbon daily newspaper. He does story after story in the Portuguese capital, covering all the aspects of its life, accompanied when necessary by Antonio, his photographer.
