When a depressed Hungarian Countess drowns in the bath of her luxury hotel suite it looks like suicide. Intense scrutiny falls on her psychoanalyst, Max Liebermann. Investigating Officer Oskar Rheinhardt teams up with Max to solve the riddle of the Countess' death and clear Max's professional reputation.

A beggar-girl finds a mutilated corpse in Vienna's slum quarter. The secret services warn Oskar that the investigation is not the concern of the Leopoldstadt police. However, when Oskar receives anonymous messages relating to the murder, he can't resist delving further.