Can evil be erased from evil people? The heart was cut from the victim's body, and in its place lies a stone: Criminal Commissioner Martin Kornell is called to a murder case that is as cruel as it is mysterious. It marks the beginning of a bloody series that starts on Christmas Day in Mannheim. Every day, the perpetrator strikes again. The press soon refers to him as the "Raunachtmörder" (Night of the Spirits Murderer). Kornell and his colleague Fischer find no leads. What is the connection between the victims, all of whom were over seventy? What do the engraved symbols on the stones, which were placed in place of the hearts of the murdered, mean? Kornell increasingly feels like a failure because he always arrives too late. When he believes he can finally decipher the mystery and stop the perpetrator, someone close to him disappears... and the end of the Raunächte.