In 1950s Prague, the Communist government is all-powerful, subjecting citizens to surveillance and imprisonment. When a little boy is murdered at the cinema, the ensuing investigation sheds a little too much light on the personal lives of the cinema's female ushers, including Helena Nováková, who is hiding a dark secret of her own. As he sets out to solve the case, Captain Nedoma will be undermined by his own double life, even as a second killer enters the picture. First published in Czech in 1985, dissident Heda Margolius Kovály's (1919-2010) novel draws from the events of her incredibly turbulent life, while evoking classic noir fiction.