Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt calls on Dr. Max Liebermann to help investigate the murder of a young woman and the mysterious circumstances that suggest a supernatural power may be to blame.

Max and Oskar are drawn into a sphere of nationalistic groups who despise Vienna's immigrants; Max's fiancee takes daring risks before the murderer's rationale is revealed.

Max asks Oskar for help when his nephew has a breakdown following a cadet's death while at military school. The school's barbaric traditions are hidden from the public.

Suspicion at the military school centres on an elite group of cadets. Solving a case will impact Oskar and Max's professional lives.

The Liebermanns are shocked by an act of violence from Max's sister Leah's son Daniel. When Leah finds bruises on Daniel's body, Max persuades Oskar that the military academy which he attends should be investigated.

In what looks like suicide, a Hungarian countess drowns in her bath in a luxury hotel suite, with scrutiny falling on her psychoanalyst Max Liebermann.