A rich Frisian farmer has been murdered in Amsterdam and police duo Grijpstra & De Gier are sent to investigate. Adjutant Grijpstra has problems at home again and is happy to leave for Friesland to investigate the murder. Sgt. De Gier finds the Frisian Hylke much more interesting than the murder case. In Leeuwarden there is a real Chinese war and a brutal robbery at the cattle market. Suddenly there is that friendly rattling, asthmatic rat who provides an unexpected solution.

Detectives Grijpstra and De Gier are sent to investigate the case of a man who apparently hanged himself in a center for oriental meditation. It is ruled as suicide and the case seems to be closed, but the same night there is an attempted break in. The investigation hits a dead end and everyone involved is a suspect. Based on the book "The Corpse in the Haarlemmer Houttuinen” by Jan-Willem van de Wetering.