The festive sound of jingle bells drifted across the Kiel Fjord as Commissioner Borowski and his colleague Sarah Brandt celebrated Julklapp within the Presidium. Unbeknownst to them, a grim deed was being meticulously planned in the nearby region of Schleswig. A sudden, horrifying event unfolded during the Lucia Festival parade at a Danish school: a man burst into flames. Kriminalrat Schladitz, a native of the area, found himself an unwilling witness to the brutal attack. The victim, Michael Eckart, was the school's headmaster and a member of the Danish minority. Initial evidence suggested the perpetrator lurked within the immediate vicinity of the deceased.
