In Russia, on the eve of the revolution, a young student named Raskolnikov murders an old pawnbroker over a pocket watch. Although an innocent man is quickly arrested for the crime, Raskolnikovs's own published essay - suggesting that people who are "extra-ordinary" are above such things as "right" and "wrong" - draws the suspicion of judge Porfiry. Who will catch up to Raskolnikov first? Porfiry ... or his own guilty conscience?