The peat farmer Hannes Gerhards wants his girlfriend Helen Dahms from the city to pull him to the countryside. As in peat cutting work the skull of a bog body is found. Police commissioner Lorenz Keller, who is about to retire, has already completed his career. But with the bone find Keller finally sees his chance to bring an old case to an end.
A landslide in the Harz releases a corpse. Commissioner Frank Koops leads the investigation. Vanessa Riemann, tourist guide and marksman from St. Andreasberg, sees a lot of money in the backpack of the two hikers and attacks. On her breakneck escape through the undergrowth she is shot and bleeding in the arms of her brother Marco. In her backpack this finds 1.4 million euros - the booty from a bank robbery.
Despite the threat of war in the fall of 1939, the Germans decide to launch a sea expedition in search of evidence for Pangaea. Although the multi national geologists embark enthusiastically on their research mission, the growing political tension between their countries soon affects their work. With Britain and France declaring war on Germany, the civilian scientists now find themselves mere pawns in a global power struggle.
