Luke Barrett, having lost his memory due to an accident, does not realize that Dingus had killed his wife and brother to take possession of the Barretts' land and money. At first Luke trusts him, but while looking for his forgotten identity he discovers the truth.

Having casually overheard a confusing phone conversation between two women, Alberto manages to get in touch with one of the callers, Claudia, a painter. The two become lovers and things are spiced up by Claudia's ambiguous sexual nature and by the presence of her former lover, Pietro. Alberto discovers a pistol in Claudia's handbag and this leads to a further revelation: she's dominated by her stepmother Greta, who forced her into a clandestine lesbian relationship; of which Claudia is ashamed and wants to end - at all costs. Alberto, now a slave to love, runs Greta over. But Claudia denies urging him to murder...

Upon his release from prison, an ex-convict returns to his beloved city of Genoa, and to his lover.