Inspector Sejer investigates the delivery of a threatening postcard that coincides with the discovery of a child who was found covered in blood but unharmed in her stroller.

Inspector Sejer is investigating the brutal murder of a woman who lived alone in the middle of the woods. The chief suspect is another loner, a schizophrenic recently escaped from a mental institution. The only witness is a twelve-year-old boy, overweight, obsessed with archery, and a resident at a home for delinquents. When a demented man robs a nearby bank and accidentally takes the suspect hostage, the three mistfits are drawn into an uneasy alliance....