The film begins in Copenhagen, where Varg Veum finds Lisa, the 16-year-old runaway prostitute daughter of a wealthy businessman. He brings her back to his client and his family in Norway, where he is intercepted by neighbors who ask him to find their son Peter, Lisa's close friend. He is reluctant to help them, but when Lisa's 21-year-old drug-addict friend turns up dead in a Bergen hotel room, Veum wants to do everything possible to protect the girl from a dangerous drug dealer. But the police see her as the prime suspect in the murder and regard the private detective's investigation as interference.