"The Red Inn" by Honoré de Balzac is a short story published in 1831. At a Parisian dinner party, a guest recounts a chilling tale from 1799 Germany: two young French doctors and a wealthy merchant spend the night at an inn, where one doctor contemplates murder. By morning, the merchant lies dead, and an innocent man faces execution. Years later, the narrator suspects a wealthy guest may harbor a dark secret—and finds himself falling for the man's daughter. (This is an automatically generated summary.)