The narrator travels from Algiers to the Marengo old‑people’s home, learns of his mother’s death, attends a night vigil in a mortuary, witnesses her friends’ silent mourning, and later participates in the funeral procession to the village church, noting the oppressive heat and the emotional reactions of the caretaker, director, and Thomas Pérez. After his mother’s burial, the narrator spends Saturday swimming at the harbor where he reunites with former office typist Marie Cardona, shares flirtatious moments, watches a Fernandel film with her, and learns she knows of his mourning. On Sunday he roams the neighborhood, observes families, street‑car crowds, soccer fans returning from the stadium, and the gradual evening bustle, before cooking a simple dinner and reflecting that life has not changed despite the loss. The narrator spends a workday after his mother’s burial, runs after a noisy truck with coworker Emmanuel, eats at Céleste’s café, encounters his abusive neighbour Salamano and the neighbour’s mangy spaniel, and is drawn into a violent revenge plot when warehouse guard Raymond Sintés asks him to write a threatening letter for his cheating mistress. The narrator spends a weekend with Marie Cardona, swimming and sharing an intimate encounter, then returns to his apartment where a domestic‑violence episode involving Raymond and his mistress erupts, leading to police intervention; Raymond coerces the narrator into lying as a witness and they go drinking, play pool and avoid a brothel; later Salamano’s beloved dog disappears, prompting a distressed discussion. Raymond invites the narrator to a beach house and asks him to watch for an Arab who might follow him; the narrator’s boss proposes opening a Paris office and asks for his opinion, which the narrator deflects; Marie proposes marriage and they discuss love, later strolling through town and planning a dinner at Céleste’s; at the restaurant a bizarre, meticulous little woman appears and the narrator follows her after she leaves; Salamano returns with his lost dog, recounts his own past, and reveals that neighbors resent the narrator for sending his mother to the old‑people’s home. The narrator, Marie, Raymond and Raymond’s friend Masson spend a day at a beach house, swim, eat fried fish and plan a joint summer stay; later two Arab men confront them, a fight erupts, Raymond is wounded and the narrator ultimately shoots one of the Arabs after a tense standoff. The narrator is arrested and undergoes a series of interrogations by an examining magistrate, meets a young lawyer who probes his feelings about his mother’s death, and endures a months‑long investigation marked by the magistrate’s religious tirades before the process settles into a more routine, almost familial routine over an eleven‑month span. The narrator is placed in prison, first in a shared cell with Arab inmates and later in solitary confinement; he receives a poignant visit from Marie who promises hope, marriage, and future swimming; he observes the noisy visitation room, hears the murmurs of Arab prisoners, endures harsh conditions, befriends a guard who discusses freedom, and adopts mental exercises to pass the time, reflecting on the passage of days. The narrator is brought to the Court of Assizes for his trial, which begins in June under a hot sun. He sits in the dock before a packed courtroom filled with press, a special correspondent, and a young reporter. The presiding judge, three judges, and the prosecutor open the session. The narrator is questioned about his mother’s death and his motives, then the trial proceeds with witness testimonies: the director and caretaker of the old‑people’s home, Thomas Pérez, Masson, Salamano, Raymond, Marie Cardona, and Céleste each describe his behavior after his mother’s burial. The prosecutor portrays him as a murderer acting out of “shameful debauchery,” while his lawyer urges the jury to focus on the actual charge. The courtroom is stifling, fans are used, and tensions rise as witnesses argue and the prosecutor’s accusations intensify. The trial is adjourned, and the narrator is returned to the prison van, reflecting on the familiar sounds of the town as he heads back to his cell. In the trial, the prosecutor paints the narrator as a premeditated, soulless murderer and demands the death penalty, while the defense lawyer offers a modest confession and argues for mitigating circumstances. The presiding judge asks the narrator for a statement; he remains silent and is sentenced to beheading in a public square. New witnesses—a little robot woman and a young reporter in a gray jacket—are noted in the courtroom.