A German entrepreneur has been killed in Austria; evidence links this case to the first murder. Ellie and her Austrian counterpart Gedeon realise they are dealing with a highly intelligent and cold-blooded killer, who sees his victims as symbols.
Ellie and Gedeon team up with cultist Brunner to set a trap for the killer. But, they have to overstep legal boundaries in order to get this plan to work. They fake a copycat murder, hoping their target would be lured into reaching out to Brunner.
The investigators unearth the Krampus legend - a symbolic creature infamous for punishing the naughty and unworthy. This leads them to Sebastian Brunner, head of a rural sect, whose books on the end of civilization seem to have inspired the killer.
A man wearing a Krampus mask is shot during a gunfight with the police and it appears as though he is the sought-after Krampus Killer. However, Gedeon suspects this is merely a copycat, a theory which the politicians and the press refuse to believe.
