A disillusioned Wehrmacht officer named Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg and his co-conspirators attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944.

In the Danish port city of Belgesund, the caretaker of a private high school has fallen victim to murder. Detective Thomsen takes on the case and finds that behind the clean facade there are abysses. He has five suspects in mind: the teacher Berling, who is having a relationship with a student, the twin brother and sole heir of the murdered man, the murdered man's shady roommate, the primary school teacher Klaus Erikson and his brother Jakob.

About how the British broke the Brazilian monopoly on natural rubber. The storyline suggests a complex relation between adventure, military conquest and imperialism.