An international summit to be held in a local chateau is being threatened by Basque separatists, and animal-rights campaigners have declared war on the beloved local delicacy, foie gras, in the form of an attack on a local duck farm. When a body is found at an archaeological site Bruno senses a connection with the activist groups, but he is hindered by further attacks on local farms and the interference of local bureaucrats. When famed archaeological researcher Horst Vogelstern disappears under mysterious circumstances tensions run even higher.