Turkish woman Aische Aydin is found beaten to death in her apartment in Basel. Her husband Ali is suspected, but remains silent and attempts suicide. Inspector Hunkeler cannot accept this. An amulet—depicting a couple in a boat—found at the crime scene catches his attention. Hunkeler has encountered such an amulet before, when he was investigating Roma clans in Alsace. Acquaintances of the Aydins confirm that the amulet belonged to neither Aische nor Ali. Shortly afterwards, Theo, the heroin-addicted ex-husband of a friend of Aische's, is found murdered. The police find a large quantity of heroin. The Aydins are now also linked to drug trafficking.