Working as a chambermaid, Celestine observes the little failings of each member of the household: Mr. Monteil's craving for sex, Mrs. Monteil's embittered repression, father-in-law Mr. Rabour's refined fetishism... Their neighbor, the peppery captain Mauger, often has skirmishes with them. One day, two unexpected events disturb the quiet life of the neighborhood: Mr. Rabour dies suddenly and a little girl called Claire is raped, then murdered in the woods. Celestine suspects Joseph, the gardener she knows to have a violent and sadistic nature, but she fails to get him convicted.