A young man has been found in the woods, tortured and stabbed to death. Profiler Louise Bergstein and the head of the investigation Karina Horup try to find evidence for whether the murder can be attributed to a serial killer who, after a five-year hiatus, may now be active again. They slowly work their way towards the killer's highly unusual motive. Meanwhile, Peter Vinge struggles with being a single parent to his son, Johannes, and looks for his next victim.

Louise Bergstein and Karina Hørup discover that the serial killer has a claimed a new victim, William Fjeldby, who was kidnapped and abducted in his own car. William's father, multimillionaire Gorm Fjeldby, clings to the hope that his son has been kidnapped for a ransom and is therefore still alive. As the police search for William, Peter Vinge tries to celebrate Johannes's birthday without Masja. It dawns on Johannes that his father is hiding something from him.