During the heathen Rauhnächte there is unbridled exuberance in the former Viking town of Ribe. Chaos reigns even at the police station, where the conscientious patrol officer Ida Sörensen helps out on the night shift. At this moment nobody thinks of the sadistic serial killer who kidnaps people and starves them to death in the forest. So Ida does not recognize Smilla Vestergaad either, who has been missing for days, was able to free herself from her bonds, now appears among all the disguised and drunk in the police station, but can hardly speak a word. When the young woman disappeared a little later, the policewoman found herself exposed to serious accusations from her older colleague Magnus Vinter. Ambitious Commissioner Olsen is certain that there is little time left to find the abductee alive.