The Red Inn

"The Red Inn" by Honoré de Balzac is a suspenseful short story told by an unnamed narrator who attends a dinner party where a German guest named Hermann is asked to tell a story. Hermann's story involves two French doctors who stay at an inn with a German businessman. During the night, the businessman is murdered, and one of the doctors is suspected. The narrator doubts the story is related to the father of the girl he loves. He later asks his friends whether he should marry her despite the possibility that her father is a murderer.