It just won’t leave Rodenstock in peace: the chemist Breidenbach, a friend of the retired inspector, was killed by falling rocks while camping. But could the knowledgeable nature freak have been so stupid as to pitch his tent next to a fissured wall in a quarry, virtually tempting fate?
Reluctantly the journalist Siggi Baumeister lets himself be talked into visiting the scene of the accident with Rodenstock. Sure enough, the two of them find more curious details: the tarpaulin is torn to shreds, there are signs that someone was secretly observing the area, and then Baumeister finds a finger in a pile of rocks. All this leads to only one conclusion: Breidenbach was murdered.
Of course, Rodenstock and Baumeister now set out in search of the murderer – in search of a man missing a finger. The motive for the deed seems most likely to be found in the chemist’s professional sphere. It was Breidenbach’s job to monitor the quality of the drinking water, and it soon emerges that the water specialist was on the trail of polluters.
However, that would not explain the second act of violence which Rodenstock and Baumeister stumble across: the murder of young Holger Schwedt. But are the two deaths even related?