Set in the politically troubled autumn of 1936, this story follows Zsigmond Gordon, a world-weary reporter asking unwanted questions about the seemingly unimportant murder of a young prostitute found beaten to death and dumped in a courtyard. While supposedly covering the funeral of fascist-leaning, real-life Hungarian prime minister Gyula Gömbös, Gordon's investigation leads him deep into the city's dark underbelly - a shady world of pornographers, fixers, all-night "smokers", boxing rings, seedy brothels, powerful crime syndicates and communist cells - all the way to the highest echelons of power, where one of Hungary's most influential business figures plans to make a fortune through his political ties to Germany's leadership - as long as he can somehow keep secret the fact that he is of Jewish heritage.