At the seaside resort of Riccione in 1938 the body of a young prostitute is found on a beach, not far from Mussolini's holiday residence. The local chief of police, terrified that the news may become public, attempts to draw the matter to a swift close by charging the woman's pimp with her murder, and earns praise from Il Duce in the process.

It is 1946. With the Allies fast approaching, De Luca and his fellow policemen flee into the countryside. Posing as partisans, they get caught up in a checkpoint skirmish that ends in bloodshed. The policemen scatter and escape, and De Luca stumbles into a small mountain village, posing as a government engineer. A partisan policeman befriends him and enlists his help to solve the murder of a highly respected villager.

The time frame moves to 1948. The war is over and Italy is preparing for its first elections since Mussolini. De Luca is assigned the lowly task of policing the notorious red light district. When his first murder case points to local politicians and members of the police hierarchy, he has no intention of looking the other direction. The city's mood is fraught with tension and uncertainty, as fiercely-contested elections are about to define a new direction for Italy.