During World War II, 22-year-old Carabinieri deputy brigadier Salvo D'Acquisto makes an heroic gesture of self-sacrifice by "confessing" an act of sabotage for which 22 civilians had been rounded up by the Germans, and is executed by firing squad in their place on September 23, 1943.

Rome is on the thresh-hold of the Holy year 1925, the city wishes to present itself as 'spotless' to the outside world. The appearance of a child's corpse puts an end to these aspirations. The police arrest a small time crook who has committed a robbery but has nothing to do with the murder of the child.

Inspector Montalbano is an Italian television series produced and broadcast by RAI since 1999, based on the detective novels of Andrea Camilleri. The protagonist is Commissario Salvo Montalbano, and the stories are set in the imaginary town of Vigata, Sicily. In 2012 the series generated a prequel, Il giovane Montalbano.