Two bodies are found on a path in the Austrian woods. The Kripo (Central Detective Bureau) from Graz takes over the investigation but still requires help from Inspektor Felix Kimmel: he is a local man who knows the area and its people. The dead men's identities are not known, but they are thought to be from somewhere in Eastern Europe-tscuschen is the highly derogatory word that is used. An autopsy on one reveals a small tattoo that suggests membership in a Croatian paramilitary gang. The day after the discovery, the family who had called the Gendarmerie dies in a house fire. Felix is drawn further into this murder, and now arson, investigation . . . whoever set fire to the farmhouse may want Felix next . . .