The Marseille police commander Michel de Palma, also known as "Baron," is tasked with shedding light on the murder case of Dr. Delorme, who was found dead at his desk with Freud's work "Totem and Taboo" open in front of him. Sixty years earlier, the scientist had purchased skulls and death masks from the locals in New Guinea. Why is one of these skulls missing from Delorme's villa? As the investigation unfolds, more crimes occur involving ethnologists and art dealers. Is Michel de Palma dealing with a manic murderer? His inquiries lead the opera-loving, unyielding, and unpredictable investigator deep into the Marseille underworld, as well as to New Guinea and the international art trade scene.