In November 1944, Bologna's bomb-scarred streets are filled with starving refugees fleeing the advancing Allies. The Fascist Black Brigades, S.S. officers, and Italian Resistance partisans compete for control. Comandante De Luca, once Bologna's most brilliant investigative officer, now works for the Political Police in a torture facility. He faces three murders: a professor shot through the eye, an engineer beaten to death, and a German corporal gnawed by rats in a flooded cellar. De Luca must solve these cases to save ten Italian hostages from a Nazi firing squad. As he navigates personal and political motivations, risking his life, De Luca uncovers secrets in the frozen heart of Bologna.