Wisting and his team are warned about a cruel crime scene in Larvik. The severed head of a young asylum seeker is found on a stake in the middle of the square. FBI agent Maggie Griffin returns to assist in the case.

When a corpse appears in the net of a local poacher, the two killings are linked. Line suspects that Wisting has had a relationship with the manager at the care center.

Maggie is forced to share information, which she has previously kept secret from Wisting. The investigation takes a whole new turn, and leads Wisting and Maggie on a new hunt across the border into Sweden.

In Sweden, Wisting and Maggie find a former victim. Together with the Swedish police, they are drawn into a fierce police action, and the final settlement is both intense and surprising.