 Martin Beck has to search through the high powered business man Viktor Palmgren's many enemies when the business man is shot in front of a dozen witnesses at a high-end restaurant.Behind the facade of legal transactions he finds out that Palmgren had earned most of his money with illegal arms deals.During the investigation it turns out that Bertil Svensson shot Palmgren because he had caused his unemployment, the loss of his home and, ultimately, the loss of his family.