Kurt Wallander and the other police officers try to find the connection between a horrible murder that took place in Ystad and the kidnapping of one of the police force's daughters. It also seems someone has infiltrated the police and controls every move the police make.
Kurt Wallander and the team are stumped when they find an old man, Greger Stehn, dead due to poisoning. It appears that Stehn, who looked like a vagrant, was in fact very wealthy.
A semi-trailer found dumped and full of dead people leads Kurt Wallander and his team to a convent where the nuns have been assisting illegal refugees into Sweden via Poland.