Two dead with their earlobes slashed. Inspector Hunkeler believes that the brothel owner Garzoni is the culprit. However, his colleagues Madörin and Lüdi are researching the drug milieu. Then prosecutor Suter withdraws Commissioner Hunkeler from the case because of bias. Has Hunkeler grown old? The third film adaptation of a case with the Basel inspector Hunkeler based on the novel by Hansjörg Schneider.

Hunkeler's last official act went awry: a diamond courier evaded surveillance, the goods ended up in the Basel sewage system, and Lüdi suffered life-threatening injuries. Plagued by guilt, pensioner Hunkeler goes in search of the "silver pebbles". Ultimately, even as a retiree, he is ahead of the pack with his sense of the longings of the little people.