When a famous film star dies during the premiere of her new film, both Max and Oskar are on the scene. Max admits she was a former emergency admission to his hospital, where he briefly treated her. Their investigation gets them embroiled in the dark underbelly of stardom and far-right Austrian politics.

Max applies his neurological expertise to the case of a retired soldier, Captain Steiner, who is convinced that he is cursed and tortured by vengeful spirits. It looks like a tragic case of trauma-induced paranoia when the captain is found to have committed suicide in a gruesome manner. But Max and Oskar are not convinced.

Vienna, 1908. A young seamstress is murdered in a luxury fashion house. Oscar and Max are initially perplexed by the means and the motive for her death, but further clues are revealed when Max receives a letter at his newly established practice. Together, the two friends uncover some dark and sinister secrets at the heart of the Viennese glamour industry.