The first case for Leonore Goldmann and Walter Brandner. Just before the summer holidays, a school class disappears during an excursion: eight girls along with their teacher. The case lands in the hands of the investigative duo Leonore Goldmann and Walter Brandner. Walter believes he recognizes a connection to an earlier case: many years ago, six girls of a similar age disappeared one after the other, always during the summer holidays. None of them ever returned. Are they dealing with the same perpetrator? What are his intentions? And why are the parents not receiving any ransom demands? Leonore and Walter are left with only suspicions, fears, and a grim certainty: in cases of child abduction, most children die within the first twenty-four hours.