A veteran paratrooper murders his Vietnamese wife when he finds her in the arms of a younger man. Garal (Maurice Ronet) makes it back to the army base where his drunken roommate provides him with an iron clad alibi. Jauran (Michel Bouquet) is the local police inspector who befriends the Garal, unaware he is the killer. The younger man is accused of the woman's murder, but the paratrooper begins to feel overwhelmed with guilt. The longer he remains silent about the crime, the more psychological torture he must endure.