Shortly after the Thirty Years' War, a dying boy is pulled out of the Lech River in the Bavarian town of Schongau. A tattoo points to witchcraft and the people of Schongau immediately accuse the town's midwife. The executioner Jakob Kuisl is supposed to extract a confession from her under torture, but he is convinced that the old woman is innocent. Supported by his daughter Magdalena and the young town physician, he sets out to find the culprit.
