Was it actually suicide? Doris Röttger is convinced that riding instructor Markus Hoffschulte has her husband on his conscience. In fact, when he was questioned by Inspector Frank Thiel, the heartthrob Hoffschulte did not deny having had a heated argument with the restaurant owner Röttger shortly before his death. Apparently it was about money. In fact, the riding instructor probably confronted the husband of his former lover on this occasion with truths that he should not have known... Forensic pathologist Prof. Karl-Friedrich Boerne is dealing with completely different problems. His almost 18-year-old niece Betty dances on his nose. Accordingly, he is pleasantly surprised when she accepts a holiday job at Hoffschulte's and his wife Miriam's well-respected equestrian center.
Among other things, she is to take care of the valuable black breeding horse Rasputin. But Rasputin of all people is kidnapped shortly afterwards. When he reappears, he is no longer good as a stallion - he has been castrated - and Hoffschulte is financially ruined. But apart from Betty, nobody really seems to feel sorry for the riding instructor. On the contrary: wherever Boerne and Thiel ask around, they encounter glee. Apparently, Doris Röttger is not the only one who still has an open account with the heartbreaker. A threatening letter on the stable door says it all: "That was just the beginning. You are a dead man." A little later there is an explosion at the riding stables.