Max's engagement party is interrupted by news of a grotesque series of murders in Vienna's slums. Oskar quickly arrests a suspect and finds circumstantial evidence to support a conviction. But Max isn't convinced they've got the right man.

Max's nephew suffers a breakdown after the drowning of a fellow cadet at a military academy. The police department refute suspicions but Max shows Oskar a pattern of violence and believes that they're looking at a murder investigation.