A gruesome sexual murder shocks Münster. The victim, a young law student, was found strangled in her apartment. “Do we all have to be afraid now?” is the headline in the local press. But there is not much to suggest that a serial killer was actually at work here.

However, the victim's ex-boyfriend André Pütz, a freelance photographer who mainly travels to crisis areas around the world, is an urgent suspect. Recently he had repeatedly stalked the young woman. When Inspector Thiel and Prof. Boerne surprise him at home, he flees headlong.

And yet Thiel resists drawing hasty conclusions. He discovers parallels between the crime and other cases. Above all, the extremely attractive bank employee Anna Schäfer, whose apartment was recently broken into, won't let him go. But at first he meets her very aloofly.

It's a tough case for Borowski: The body of the eight-year-old girl has hematomas and a broken rib - both older injuries. The inspector takes a closer look at the family: Michelle's parents, Nadine and Thies Nowak, have financial problems and are struggling with enormous marital problems. To make matters worse, Nadine is pregnant, and then Thies' ex-girlfriend reappears on the scene.