In Hessen region Taunus's zoo, posthumously severed adult male limbs are found in different animal cages. Director Christoph Sander points at vandalizing animal rights activist, popular private gymnasium language teacher and former party animal Hans-Ulrich 'Uli' Pauly's unruly bunch, but the corpse is found in a field and identified as his own. Oliver von Bodenstein's Hochheim police team tracks down Uli's bunch and former study friends, ac olourful bunch yielding private and business motives. As they discover links to more citizens, arson and a hanging occur, but a cop's own dark secret also ties in.