The mayor of a small provincial town, caught up in mundane affairs and corruption, summons his three deputies before fleeing: one of them will have to succeed. From then on, Veyron, Ben and Karabik, mere office colleagues, become fierce rivals with betrayals, inventions, revelations.

The young vicar Victor and Sister Marie Ernestine, caught while they were making love, are defrocked by their cardinal. In front of their newly rented flat, they will come upon two couples who practice swinging.

The director of a department store is murdered. He is discovered in a park, a bunch of daffodils on his chest.