It's a historical thriller, set in Northern Italy, in 1913. New factories are transforming Novi, a small town between Genoa and Alessandria. The coal mill, the iron works, the cotton mill and many silk mills give work to thousands of men and hundreds of women. It's a most difficult moment; things are tense and souls are worked up.
And then a murder takes place at a silk mill: is it a botched robbery ended up in tragedy? Or is it an intended murder? If so, why? For jealousy or political hatred? The police arrest a young worker - an anarchist. He pleads not guilty, but doesn't say anything else; he doesn't explain where he was when the murder took place. It will be his defense councilor, he too an anarchist, who must shed light onto the facts. But it's a complicated matter that gets more and more complex and murky; ancient guilt and recent problems come into it - even the beautiful widow Binaldi, daughter-in-law to a major silk mill owner.
New murders happen - are they related to the first one? As the defendant stands trial at the Court of Law, in Alessandria, the anarchist lawyer risks his life to stop the killer...