Sebastian Bergman, criminal psychologist, is confronted with his greatest fear: losing a child again. The residents of Torsby are in shock: the Carlsten couple and their two sons have been murdered. Shot at close range in their own home. Commissioner Torkel Höglund and his colleagues from the National Homicide Commission soon discover that there must have been a witness: Nicole, the ten-year-old niece of the Carlstens. Her footprints lead into the woods. And her chances of survival diminish by the hour. The usually rough criminal psychologist Sebastian Bergman is deeply affected by the case; Nicole reminds him of his own daughter, who would be the same age now. The daughter he could not save. Bergman is determined to find the girl. However, Nicole deliberately changes her hiding spots, driven by the fear of death. Because someone will stop at nothing to prevent Nicole from revealing what she knows.