The book opens two hours before school ends. Seventeen-year-old Cristian Florescu hopes to time his departure with that of a girl he has romantic feelings for. He jokes with his best friend, Luca, and a group of fellow students despite the controlling atmosphere in the school. Cristian is abruptly summoned by the school’s director, under the guise of receiving a message from his father. Cristian is confused but proceeds to the school office anyway.

In the office, Cristian notices the portrait of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceauşescu but is more concerned by the stranger before him. The man holds a file of papers, and Cristian immediately knows he is a member of the Romanian secret police—the Securitate. Cristian explains that their identities are not as secret as they might like, as the black Dacia car each one drives gives him away. Cristian is instantly worried as he sits before the stranger, who tells Cristian he “knows what [Cristian] has been doing” (7).

Cristian speculates as to what he could be guilty of. The stranger tells him his crime is selling a postage stamp to “a foreigner and accept[ing] foreign currency” (10).