A kidnapped musician and his missing violin are the prelude to a series of murders whose victims were deeply involved in business connections between the GDR and Austria. The investigators of SOKO Vienna and Leipzig are working together.

Star violinist Philipp Baumgarten is kidnapped after a concert in Leipzig. His violin, which came from a Vienna violin-maker's workshop, has also disappeared, so the Leipzig investigators turn to their Viennese colleagues to find out the role of the violin in the kidnapping. The Viennese investigators attempt to talk to the violin maker, but find him seriously injured. A little later, the abducted violinist is found alive in Leipzig. With his statement, the kidnapper can be identified: Kurt Lehrmann, the janitor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus. He was imprisoned for several years in the GDR era for a violent crime, but his motive behind the abduction seems puzzling. When, shortly thereafter, a retired banker is murdered in Vienna and the perpetrator description fits Kurt Lehrmann, it becomes clear that the Leipzig and Vienna colleagues will work together in this cross-border case.