And there is still spark between the two: at a class reunion in his hometown of Essen, Max Ballauf meets the sweetheart of his youth. But Katja is married and has two children with her classmate at the time, Stefan Dorn. The party ends in a fight. The next morning, Stefan Dorn is found murdered in his hotel room. Ballauf is also suspected of having killed his former school friend. The Essen chief inspector Vossbeck takes him into interrogation. But the murder of Stefan Dorn soon spreads. As managing director of the "RUHR.2010 Foundation", he was also responsible, among other things, for awarding larger construction contracts.
Is his death related to the murder of the Cologne contractor Franz Tarrach, in which Commissioner Schenk and Commissioner's assistant Franziska Lüttgenjohann are currently investigating? Tarrach is said to have employed undeclared workers on a large scale. Freddy Schenk rushes to Essen to clarify the connections and to support his friend Ballauf. Because he is suddenly in the sights of the Essen homicide commission: Traces of the dead man's blood were found on his clothes. Ballauf gets in need of explanation ...