During a televised debate on the Algerian war in the early 1980s, Professor Paulet denounced the methods of Captain Caron, killed in action in 1957. The widow of the captain, Patricia, decided to file a defamation suit.

A desperate woman, whose son is on trial for murder, blackmails the judge and kidnaps his wife.

Stephane (Victor Lanoux) is the mayor of a small village. He is also the manager of the tannery which provides the inhabitants with work. In a fit of anger, he kills his wife (Edith Scob). A judge (Jean Carmet) tries to prove his culpability, but it's not an easy task, because there is a political and social pressure.

During an investigation, private detective Marie Machiavelli discovers that the former head of a law firm embezzled several million francs belonging to Jewish clients whom he never attempted to contact after the war.

Eleven-year-old Guillaume suffers from a serious and potentially fatal heart condition. Gradually, the young boy's family fractures under the weight of his illness.