Patrick Delmas, el empresario más destacado de Montauban y ex estrella del rugby internacional, es asesinado con un disparo en el ojo, como el duque de Mayenne cuatro siglos antes.

Simon Marchand, once a famous lawyer, has fallen from grace. He is asked to defend a woman accused of infanticide. She ended the suffering of her severely disabled daughter. He does not try to shift her responsibility, but throws himself heart and soul into her defense.