It has been weeks since Vincent Pergotti, a little chimney sweep from Savoie, has disappeared. So his mother asks Séraphine, the errand-girl in the Roquebère office, to help her find him. Soon the young girl suspects a mysterious beggarwoman in rags, called Goldy, of having played a key role in Pergotti's disappearance.
Ignoring the advice of her employers, but sometimes provoking the anger of Parturon the police officer, Séraphine becomes fascinated by this mystery where the hesitant creations of Nicéphore Niepce, the inventor of photography, turn out to be very useful and revealing.
