A man is shot dead in broad daylight in Cologne city center. The bullet was fired from 700 meters away and went straight to the heart. Chief Inspector Freddy Schenk believes he knows the murder weapon that can hit the target with pinpoint accuracy from such a great distance. The victim, Charly Hecker, was a successful businessman who apparently had never done anything wrong in life. During the interrogations of Hecker's young wife Franka, something happens to Inspector Ballauf that should not happen: He falls in love with the murdered man's widow and begins to meet her secretly.

To mark the 30th anniversary of Tatort, there was to be a special anniversary crime thriller with this episode. The Cologne detectives Ballauf and Schenk investigate together with their East German colleagues Ehrlicher and Kain. The four have to solve two murders.

The Tatort teams of Leipzig and Köln are brought together, when the driver of an art transport between the two cities is found dead in his van, minus the irreplaceable artwork he had in his custody.