On the night of October 19, 1921, a group of sailors and Republican guards roam the streets of Lisbon in what would come to be known as the “ghost van.” Led by Corporal Abel Olímpio, known by the nickname “Golden Tooth,” the gang assassinates several political and military figures, namely the heroes of the 1910 revolution, Machado Santos and Carlos da Maia. The crimes shock the country. The newspapers call it the “Bloody Night” (Noite Sangrenta, in Portuguese).

The men of the van are tried and convicted, but the identities of the conspirators who ordered the deaths are never revealed. Berta Maia, the young widow of Carlos da Maia, refuses to accept the passivity of the courts and decides to fight against all odds in search of the truth. After several attempts, she manages to visit Abel Olímpio in prison, and after a succession of meetings, she gains the trust of her husband’s killer and makes him confess. But truth does not always lead to justice.