A failed writer works as a journalist for a local newspaper in a provincial town. Fulfilling the order of the editor-in-chief, he ends up at an exhibition of children's drawings, where, among many children's works, he sees a terrible female face depicted on a white canvas with signs of mutilation - the girl's tongue has been torn out in the portrait. The author of the picture is a mute girl adopted from an orphanage. The picture shocks the journalist and does not leave his head, leading to insomnia. Returning home after talking with an old friend, the journalist notices the open door to the neighboring apartment. Upon entering, he discovers the corpse of an old woman, killed in the same way as in the girl’s drawing...