Outside a courthouse in Berlin, pensioner Margarete Altenburg shoots homeless man Hellmer, who manages to escape unharmed. The lawyer Joachim Vernau offers his help and travels to the woman's home town to retrieve her personal belongings. When he returns to Berlin, the old lady has died. Then the homeless man is also found dead. Vernau then investigates on his own. The trail leads him back to the time of the "Wende".