1903, Ropraz - a small village in the Jura Mountains. The virginal daughter of a local judge dies of meningitis and on a howling December day a lone walker discovers her tomb recently opened. Her body is violated, her left hand cut off, sex mutilated and heart torn out. Horror in the nearby village brings the return of atavistic superstitions, along with mutual suspicion. Garlic and crucifixes are again brandished in the Protestant region - and after two more bodies are violated a suspect must be found.