In a small mountain village near Merano, the remains of a child who has been missing for decades are discovered. The find leads Commissioner Pavarotti back to the beginnings of his career, when the boy's disappearance ended in catastrophe for an entire family. He must confront an old debt – and the unrequited love for Lissie von Spiegel, from whom a great lie separates him. The commissioner becomes ensnared in a dark whirlpool of despair and helplessness.