July, 1941. After the beginning of the German invasion, an Italian soldier, a veteran of the colonial wars, is sent to the Soviet front. As he remembers the fairy tales his Russian mother used to tell him, the train he is travelling in crosses Europe on its way to the vast Ukrainian plains, where the enemy and a cruel winter await him… (Based on the experiences of several Italian soldiers.)

The shooting of a prosperous and influential businessman leaves the residents of a small provincial town in a state of shock. While the initial investigation indicates that a woman may have been involved in the murder, the crime scene has been left clean, and detectives have very little evidence to go on. However, with the culprits still at large and the crime unsolved, the sudden death of this local celebrity is frightening the entire town. Fortunately, the investigator from the central prosecutor's office happens to be in town on vacation and steps in to head the murder investigation.