Police sergeant Holm Brendel follows the trail of prominent Swedish crime writer Arvid Johansson in Ystad. Former public prosecutor Karin Lossow accompanies Holm on the private trip. On the ferry back to Usedom, she meets Dana Driest, a native of Poland. She has a conspicuous hematoma on her cheek. Was she a victim of domestic violence? The next day, Karin sees Dana's husband Jochen driving off the ferry in his SUV - without his wife.