It seemed to be a morning just like any other in little Palmyra, a historical city on the coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro. On his way to work Inspector Joaquim Dornelas is startled by an unusual commotion in the street. In the Historical Center, in front of the Church of Santa Teresa and the Old Jailhouse, a crowd has gathered to look at the corpse of a man stuck in the dry mud of the channel. Nobody knows how the body got there. There are no signs of it being dragged, nor of a boat, violence, wounds, nothing. Just a band-aid stuck to the inside of the left arm. Abandoned by his wife and with his children far away, Inspector Dornelas, a very humane sort who loves cachaça sugar cane rum and porridge made with baby cereal, becomes involved body and soul in the case in search of redemption. With no warning, the dead man's sister and a powerful local councilman show up separately to provide key information that will give this case a magnitude way beyond what Dornelas could imagine. Little by little a complex web of interests is revealed involving politics, drug trafficking, prostitution and a local association of fishermen. Using his keen intuition, his background and his understanding of the forces that affect human nature Inspector Dornelas is able to move skillfully through the tangled web of facts and interpretations that the plot uncovers. What at first appears to be just another investigation in the inspector's career becomes a journey to personal metamorphosis.