For two years now, the German secret service have been investigating an Argentinian drug boss, known as ‘the Lizard’, responsible for the massive increase of drug-trafficking to Europe. Argentina refuses to extradite him.

Ivanna is sorting out the loft of her deceased grandparents, when she finds a map of where supposedly Nazi stolen treasure is hidden. Her grandfather had been a prisoner of war in World War II and forced to work in a salt mine in Austria.

The Lizard is one of the most serious art collectors in the world. His father, a high-ranking German Nazi officer, has told him of such treasure. He cannot resist the temptation to leave his safe haven in Argentina and travel to South Germany where his gangsters have followed Ivanna to Berchtesgaden.

25 detectives arrive in Berchtesgaden for a week’s team training. They are met by their coach, Matteo, who sends them up the mountain, by foot, to their hostel. When they arrive, there are only twenty-four detectives; a young woman has disappeared. The criminal police begin to investigate but find themselves struggling when yet more detectives disappear and not every detective is who he seems to be.

Matteo is a mountain guide for the German federal police. The German secret service need his intimate knowledge of the steep mountains to find and arrest the lizard.

There follows a dramatic cat and mouse game, the lizard always one step ahead.

Will Matteo and the Secret Service succeed in arresting the Lizard before he escapes back to Argentina?