After Elmers, the head of the publishing house, is reported missing, his son-in-law Jürgen Brandt is targeted by the Hamburg criminal police. Inspector Graumann and his assistant Weber presume murder. The suspicion against editor-in-chief Brandt is confirmed by the fact that he is incriminated by the testimony of several witnesses. At a press conference, Brandt claims that the Elmers murder case was staged only to exonerate the innocently convicted family man, Parsetti. But to Brandt's horror, Elmer's body is actually found.