January 1915, in the heart of French Champagne. Three women are found dead. This would be a tragic everyday occurrence amidst the chaos of World War I, which claims thousands of victims daily, were it not for all the evidence pointing to a cold-blooded murder. The investigating officer Vialatte, a Catholic and patriot, initially suspects the perpetrators to be among the ranks of Company Peyrac, a division of young, inexperienced soldiers recruited from a prison camp. However, the commanding sergeant Peyrac, a socialist and anti-militarist, stands by his men and refuses to accept this accusation. The work tells the fate of these individuals during the times of that monstrous war. Through the gradual unraveling of the criminal case and the confrontation between two men with vastly different beliefs, the horrors and atrocities of this war are revealed.