Under mysterious circumstances, the restorer Lukas Albrecht drowns in the Canale dei Marani in Venice. While the easy-going Commissario Santo sees no criminal offense, the victim's widow resents the details. Anna, who is traveling from Vienna with her eleven-year-old son, doesn't believe it was an accident: her husband didn't have any alcohol in his blood, he knew the lagoon and could swim

Winter in Vienna. Children disappear. For now without a trace, then their bodies are found. A gift for the tabloid press. For the police a series of defeats. Politically a problem. And at the same time the long-awaited opportunity for the ambitious interior minister. The organized crime is in trouble. The child murderer must be found so that all other dirty jobs can go on.