Public prosecutor Bernd Reuther (Rainer Hunold) is conducting a trial against Tilo Kruse (Juergen Rißmann), a well-known thug who has once again beaten a man in hospital, and is about to win the case. Kruse’s victim Möhring (Michael Birnbaum) and the police officer Ralf Sandner (Oliver Stokowski) suddenly revoke their testimony and exonerate Kruse. Bernd is beside himself. He thinks Kruse manipulated the witnesses, only he can’t prove it. During the night, police officer Brandschieder is shot during a police operation. Ralf Sandner and his young colleague Markus Pohl (Max Riemelt) are involved in the shooting. Thomas and Kerstin can quickly catch the perpetrators, but the murder weapon remains untraceable. The investigation continues and a man who has been heavily charged by fire arbitrators in court is targeted: Wollweber (Bjoern Bugri) lost custody of his children because of Brandschieders testimony and was at the pub at the time of the crime. Bernd has a completely different smell: He suspects that Kruse Brandschieder has cleared the way, because he still wanted to testify against him. Thomas accuses Bernd of instigating an absurd campaign against Kruse, but Bernd remains stubborn and decides on an unusual „under cover“ mission, which directs the investigation in a completely unexpected direction.