After robbing a bank in the seventies, two thieves kill a hostage. The novel begins in present-day Barcelona, when one of the robbers is murdered. The other thief tries to get ahead by murdering the man who must be the avenger: David Miralles, father of the boy killed during the robbery. Méndez, a one-of-a-kind semi-retired cop favoring rather unorthodox methods, intervenes decisively to solve the case.