Renata Lang is a guest at a high-profile medical conference centered on the subject of male fertility. Ingrid Knapp, a former university classmate of Renata’s, has invited her to visit and offer moral support. The scientist makes vague allusions that significant changes are soon to take place in her life. Shortly thereafter, the scientist is dead—and all signs point to circulatory collapse occurring inside the steam room. Renata is skeptical; she asks Moritz Eisner for help in ensuring that the body undergoes at least a forensic medical examination.