On January 15, 1947, the mutilated corpse of a young woman was found on the outskirts of Los Angeles. The investigation into the brutal murder of Black Orchid, as the victim is called in the newspapers, is entrusted to two experienced police officers - friends and rivals, in love with the same woman. Soon both become obsessed with a new case: the solution to the life and death of Elizabeth Short becomes an obsession for them. In search of answers, they must go through all the circles of hell, plunge to the very bottom of post-war Hollywood and uncover the dark abysses of the human soul - including their own.