Wendel's suspicions are confirmed. For as long as he can remember he has believed that he was switched at birth. In the shock of retirement, he decides to finally get to the bottom of the matter. A lock of hair from his deceased mother allows only one conclusion in the DNA test. Wendel is not Wendel. But then who is he? In search of his presumably aristocratic origins, he meets a countess who is as resolute as she is fascinating.

The tragic death of the six-year-old Tine joins the fates for three families: The eight-year-old David meets as suspected offender in the psychiatry on the energetic physician Nora, who tries to displace her own problems with his treatment. However, David's mother is increasing overwhelmed with the situation and escapes to her new friend, while the parents of the dead girl desperately try the fate to process.

A book, that attacks the reader's sanity - Severin's long-forgotten childhood angst. One night, all his fears resurface when he gets his hands on the dreaded pages, and every line seems to confirm his most powerful fears. Accompanied by the antiquarian Palatinus, Severin dares to read the book and delves into the alchemist's spell.