Kalvary Istvan, a retired colonel in the Royal Hungarian cavalry, takes up a post as chief of police of the Bistritz district in Transylvania in 1896. His hopes of a peaceful retirement are dashed when he learns of his predecessor's disappearance, along with his pretty young wife. A manhunt for a serial killer is also underway in the district, led by a brilliant young investigator named Gabor Kasza. Istvan and Kasza use the latest methods of scientific, deductive reasoning and the new field of psychiatry in their investigations, and eventually focus on the Roma. The mountain people of the Carpathians have a different explanation for the killings - the name "Dracula" is whispered.