A kiosk operator in Ludwigshafen is brutally killed. It looks like robbery-if it weren't for the coins stuck in the dead man's windpipe. A signal for Lena Odenthal and Johanna Stern that there could be a private motive for the crime. Their investigations focus on two customers of the kiosk. Anton Maler is charming, takes care of his sick ex-girlfriend and is so exaggeratedly accommodating to the inspectors that he seems suspicious again. Jannik Berg, on the other hand, was not only seen with the possible murder weapon, he tried to avoid the inspectors and sowed mistrust of Anton Maler. Witnesses and suspects who lie and sugarcoat are nothing new for Lena Odenthal and Johanna Stern.
This time, however, they have the impression that they are being manipulated beyond what they are used to. The "Tatort: The Evil King" by author and director Martin Eigler confronts the inspectors with a narcissistic personality, for which they have to find special psychological clarity. In Ludwigshafen, shimmering in the summer heat, they get ever closer to the abysses in their suspect's psyche and have to ask themselves whether his instability can lead to murder.