Fru Nielsen har arvet en kiosk efter sin mor og har i 20 år, frygtløs som en løvinde, værnet om sin autistiske søn, Brian. Fru Nielsen lukker for alt, hvad der er omkring hende. Men en dag sker der noget, "her i nærheden", som hun ikke kan lukke af for. En ung pige findes myrdet i nabolaget, og tiden falder som små dråber af terror for beboerne, der alle føler sig mistænkte eller truede. Fru Nielsen forsøger at beskytte sin søn imod enhver mistanke.

The city is gasping for air in the scorching summer heat; everyone is under suspicion; a persistent detective superintendent is burrowing for the truth. A fiercely penetrating drama about a mother's love for her autistic adult son, who is suspected of murdering a local girl. The mother knows her son could have committed the murder, but she conceals her knowledge, and gradually becomes entangled in a thicket of lies. How far is she prepared to go to protect her son who is helpless in so many ways? Does she have it within her to give up the only person she loves?