If Frank Hansen had known what was in store for him, he would gladly have abandoned his plans to drive to France for a holiday. Hardly has he left the city of Cologne than he is forced to stop the car… and is abducted by unknown assailants. Not long afterwards he finds himself inside a huge container, chained to the floor. Apparently he is in a deserted factory somewhere. But that's not all: now his abductors start filling the container with water... His colleagues in the police know nothing about any of this - yet. They're busy questioning Martin Wolter, who is facing several charges of murder. His trial is due to begin soon in Lüneburg. Which only adds to their horror when an e-mail arrives from the people who have abducted Frank, and a WebCam link reveals pictures of him chained inside the container with the water already up to his knees. Because the people who have snatched Frank threaten to drown him, live on camera, unless Martin Wolter is released immediately. Which means the police only have a few hours left. Predictably enough, Chief Inspector Ben Schneider refuses to consider giving in to the demands of these criminals. So now the investigators feverishly study all known facts about Martin Wolter, since the people who are holding Frank must be connected with him somehow. Bernd Wolter, Martin’s brother, is right at the top of their list of suspects. But he absolutely denies having anything to do with the abduction of Frank. And it doesn’t look as though anybody else associated with Martin Wolter could be involved. Meanwhile, the water in Frank's container is rising steadily. In fact, he's only just able to keep his head above water by now. So the police have no choice but to give in to the criminals’ demands – or at least, to pretend to. Karin volunteers to be the one to take Martin Wolter to the place that has been proposed for the handover, in some woods near the city. But now events move more rapidly. While Daniel and Julia, who are still desperately researching the case, come across some information that could prove crucial, Karin also finds herself in a life-threatening situation. And it looks as though time has completely run out for Frank...
