Junior doctor Max Liebermann asks to observe a criminal case for his studies. Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt reluctantly offers him full access to the case of a murdered woman.

Oskar is called away from Max and Clara’s engagement party with news of a murder in a Spittelberg brothel. Oskar is quick to make an arrest, but Max is not convinced that they have the right man.

Max's nephew suffers a breakdown after the drowning of a fellow cadet at a military academy. The police department refute suspicions but Max shows Oskar a pattern of violence and believes that they're looking at a murder investigation.

Vienna, 1909. Oskar is baffled when the director of security agrees to a secret rendezvouz with a notorious, recently captured criminal.

With Max in the hospital, Oskar is racked with guilt but is determined to unmask the traitor in the heart of the Austrian establishment. He realises just how powerful this enemy is when he finds himself framed for murder.