Police officer Takabe is investigating a series of murders in which the victims have crosses carved into their bodies. Sounds like standard serial killer stuff, but here's the twist: the killer is different every time. Usually it is a friend or family member who lacks a psycho-killer profile or even a good motive and has no recollection of the crime, so that puts an end to the serial killer theory...or does it? Takabe pairs up with psychologist Sakumata; they follow any lead, and even watch television shows to see if the murders might be affected by some weird and deadly pre-millennial funk. Then one day a vagrant is arrested near the scene of one of the crimes. The man has a kind of charisma... This is a disturbing vision of a world that has let its old guides fall by the wayside.