Attorney Thomas Borchert is in custody, where he is accused of bribery and embezzlement. His former supervisor Horst Zeidler advises him to take the blame in order to then make a deal with the public prosecutor. Borchert rejects the offer. He wants to prove his innocence by legal means and is looking for a suitable defense for himself in court.

Anton Schneider says goodbye to his wife Luise in tears and dies. Schneider was seriously ill with multiple sclerosis and was diagnosed by neurologist Dr. Hoffer medically treated. Luise Schneider reports the doctor and accuses him of incorrect treatment of her husband, which ultimately led to his death. The mandate against Dr. Hoffer takes over Dominique Kuster, who entrusts her employee Thomas Borchert with the investigation.

The building contractor Hubert Thalmann is found stabbed to death by the young burglars Tim and Robin in his villa. The next day Tim goes to the police, the lawyer Thomas Borchert and his superior Dominique Kuster represent the youth in all subsequent instances. They believe in his innocence because he is also covering his friend Robin. During the investigation it turns out that both Thalmann's wife Vera and his brother Bernard have a motive.

The lawyers Borchert and Kuster are investigating a case involving a young student who has come under the crosshairs of a terrorist group.

Borchert wants to toast three years of successful cooperation with his superior Dominique Kuster and her father, Reto Zanger. The evening is canceled because Reto Zanger is called to Geneva at short notice for a mandate. His daughter is therefore supposed to represent him at a court hearing in Zurich. The trial takes a dramatic turn when inmate Alexander Böni takes those involved as hostages.

Lawyer Dominique Kuster can feel a professional success for herself when her underage client Stefan, the oldest of three foster children, receives mitigating circumstances. After the court hearing, however, she found out that the foster father Christian Hunziker had a fatal accident in a car. An autopsy reveals that it was murder. Someone has swapped the dead man's insulin for ineffective water. Christian's wife Martina comes under suspicion.

Thomas Borchert is already looking forward to his goddaughter Jenny, who is completing a practical semester in Albania. At the airport, as part of the baggage check, half a kilo of hashish is seized from her, which Jenny claims she did not know anything about. Borchert and Dominique Kuster want to find out who could have put the hash on her. They also have to solve the murder of an entrepreneur who was involved in crooked business.

When Borchert receives an anonymous message that a certain Franz Brosi is innocent, law firm boss Dominique can hardly believe it. After all, Brosi was her first client as a public defender a few years ago and had actually confessed. The two are investigating the case.

Borchert and Dominique Kuster take over the defense of the taxi driver Jrg Zollinger. Captain Furrer suspects him of the murder of a passenger, the African investigative journalist Nuka Baluba. All the evidence incriminates the uncontrolled suspect, whose testimony initially seems unreliable. Borchert is suspicious of the fact that public prosecutor Dietrich is quick to commit to Zollinger. The "lawyer without a license" suspects that Baluba's research into child labor in cobalt mines in the Congo has something to do with the murder.

A covered-up family tragedy and criminal machinations surrounding arms deals are at the center of the 22nd "Zurich Crime". Borchert must tie up the loose ends of a case whose tragic tone hits the unconventional investigator personally.