"A world without truth would be an immensely sad place," states the magistrate in the murder trial of local boy, Janek. A young man with serious mental issues, Janek weaves a "chestnut crown" from the leaves of a supposedly sacred tree in a attempt to rid himself of the demons of the past through a pagan ceremony. The crown is later found on the body of the farmer Geder--stabbed to death with a bread knife. Through a series of flashbacks during the subsequent interrogations, we learn of Janek's story: from the perversion of his relationship with his mother, to the frustrations of his love affair with Daria and his inability to complete his studies or free himself from the ghosts which haunt him.