Czech counter-espionage intercepts a coded message from the West German secret service ordering death for an unknown person on Czech territory. Among the unusual deaths that follow in the course of the next few hours, a car mechanic and his girlfriend die in a car whose brakes were apparently damaged. The car belonged to a foreign citizen named Mertens and the car mechanic borrowed it without permission. Mertens is subsequently found dead in his room in a Brno hotel. He was electrocuted by his electric razor, which had been tampered with.