Marion Keitz doesn’t exactly go easy on her grandson Ole when she tries to teach him how to swim. Many people in the sleepy village of Mönkwitz would say, “That’s just how she is.” So when Ole disappears, it’s easy to assume he simply ran away. But it soon becomes clear there’s more to the story. Marion isn’t gentle with anyone in town. Those who don’t follow her rules fear her. That includes police officer Timo, who genuinely wants to help. But Marion doesn’t want the police interfering in her family matters and uses her influence in the village to take over the search herself. Only when Timo is assigned a partner—Mona, a child welfare officer—and when Marion and her son Thorsten, Ole’s father, start breaking multiple laws, does he feel compelled to act. He now faces a complex investigation while also dealing with Marion Keitz’s fierce resistance. In Mönkwitz, opposing her means living in fear.

Mona, however, isn’t intimidated. She quickly adapts to the case but senses that the villagers are generally wary and uncooperative toward outsiders. Despite that, she manages to uncover a disturbing fact: another child went missing in Mönkwitz ten years ago. That case bears chilling similarities to the current events. While Marion Keitz is convinced that the eccentric hermit David Grant is guilty in both instances, Mona and Timo follow a different lead. The noise and chaos stirred up by Marion feel just as threatening as the silence from the rest of the village. As the investigation unfolds, Mona and Timo begin to realize that the crime they are dealing with wasn’t the act of a single person—it’s the result of a deeply entrenched system. The question now is whether they can dismantle that system and bring justice before it’s too late. One thing is certain: if they don’t find Ole soon, there will be more victims.