At some point it hits almost every inspector: In the case of an armed bank robbery with the taking of hostages, inspector Lucas (Ulrike Kriener) sees no other way out than to shoot the culprit. Protection of victims from protection of perpetrators is the legal legitimacy of this official act, but the images of the dead will haunt the inspector's dreams for a long time to come, and this in a phase of life where she still has to come to terms with the death of her comatose husband. But even now there is no time to take a deep breath. Eleven-year-old Oskar Mayerhoff (Hayo Bertram) was kidnapped. When the ransom is handed over, the team led by Inspector Lucas succeeds very quickly in arresting the alleged perpetrator. But 27-year-old Markus Welke (Marek Harloff), a business administration student from a middle-class background, vehemently denies the crime.
The forensic securing of evidence and the witness statements, on the other hand, speak a clear language. But even after a number of interrogations, Markus remains silent and refuses to reveal the place where he is hiding the boy. Inspector Lucas uses all investigative and rhetorical tricks to lure Markus out of his reserve. Vain! A race against time begins, as Oskar won't be able to last much longer in hiding without food. Markus wants to take advantage of this fact and tries to blackmail him into reducing his sentence. A crucial test for the entire team. Public and internal police demands are being made to circumvent the legal provisions and to use force to pressure the perpetrator.
The question arises as to why protection for victims should not also be applied here before protection for perpetrators, because everyone knows that the boy only has a few hours to live if the perpetrator does not finally break his silence ...