Rome is on the thresh-hold of the Holy year 1925, the city wishes to present itself as 'spotless' to the outside world. The appearance of a child's corpse puts an end to these aspirations. The police arrest a small time crook who has committed a robbery but has nothing to do with the murder of the child.

Giorgio Capitani reconstructs in the Rai TV film the parable of the famous entrepreneur, in a product that in technical terms does not escape the logic of television, but still manages to offer an interesting picture of a key figure of postwar Italy.