Architect Sophie has finally found a beautiful apartment where she wants to move in with her boyfriend Martin. But although his marriage has long since ended, he is reluctant to leave his wife and daughter.

The body of John Staffler, a well-known, successful lawyer, lies in front of the police officers. In his mouth: a red thong that definitely doesn't belong to his wife. At least that's what the former Hamburg criminalist Viola Delbrück and the Upper Lusatian loner Burkhard Schulz agree on. And also in the fact that the place where the body was found is not the crime scene. The investigation leads them to a country estate where Staffler apparently housed his lover. The trail continues to lead them to a young Polish-German couple, whose escape becomes more and more desperate the closer the two inspectors get to them.

Carla, who has no legs, is reduced by people around her to a curiosity rather than an artist. She lives for acrobatics, but works as an assistant in a variety show, invisible to the world of stage. When the theater begins to decline, the director offers her the chance to perform.