A new case for Moritz Eisner: he is to investigate the death of a German industrialist's wife, found dead in her holiday home in the Tirolean mountains. During the investigation Eisner also encounters the Viennese painter Georg Hochreiter who inhabits a farmhouse in the neighbourhood of the murdered woman and who incites the whole village with his infuriating behaviour. It culminates in lynch justice – but is he really the murderer?