The murder of the managing director of a bakery leads Chief Prosecutor Bernd Reuther, Chief Commissioner Kerstin Klar and High Commissioner Max Fischer deeply into the victim's family past. Lars Wagner's violent death in the office of his traditional bakery raises questions. Did rival Karl Reinhardt get the unpopular competitor out of the way? For Reuther there is clearly more to it. The trail leads him into the victim's past. Lars had run the Wagner bakery with his brother Tobias in the second generation, but a dark secret seems to connect them. Her mother was beaten to death before her eyes. Does the current murder case have anything to do with it? And what role does her father Harald play in this matter? With the help of Tamara Runge, the victim's therapist, Reuther recognizes,that the whole family is severely traumatized.
Sibylle Wagner, the victim's widow, is strikingly disturbed, Brother Tobias is buried in his work, and when his son Simon suddenly disappears, the situation escalates. The clarification of this tricky case once again demands Reuther's entire psychological combination.