Fred is a journalist who investigates the death of a man in room 36. He interviews the man's widow and her deranged mother for clues as to how the man died in a hotel room that is rented by the hour. Also under suspicion is a stranger named Becker who lives next to the room where the killing took place.

Enquiries into the murder of a young woman take the private investigator Peter Keller to the idyllic village of Schwant in Emmental. But, the more entangled Keller gets in the treads of the apparently clearcut case of sex murder, the more obvious the flaws in the village idyll become. Keller's quest turns into a deadly mission.

A former police officer accidentally killed a bystander while hunting criminals. Now he lives alone, continues to search for the criminal and spies on a young neighbor. His relationship with her becomes dangerous for both of them.