Anton Gerg, head of the renowned carpentry and woodcarving school in Berchtesgaden, is found murdered in the school's wood storage area. The first lead points to Marc Bleyer, a former student of Gerg's who was recently expelled from his design class.

When it turns out that Bleyer is having an affair with Gerg's wife Sabrina, the detectives suspect a murder plot. But then it emerges that the highly acclaimed designer put his students under enormous pressure and passed off their ideas as his own. Could this be the key to solving the case?