Onoff (Depardieu) is a famous writer who is now a recluse. The Inspector (Polanski) is suspicious when Onoff is brought into the police station one night, disoriented and suffering from amnesia. As the head of an isolated, rural police station the Inspector tries to establish events through careful interrogation and deduction. Through his painstaking inquiries, he eventually clears up a mysterious killing and brings the writer to a new and unexpected realisation.
