东日本大地震 9 年后，仙台地区发生连续杀人事件，刑警笘篠诚一郎(阿部宽 饰)与莲田智彦(林遣都 饰)锁定刚出狱的纵火犯──利根泰久(佐藤健 饰)。在笘篠试图厘清真相的过程中，也结识了保护一课的基层人员圆山干子(清原果耶 饰)，发掘出不为人知，更深不可测的黑暗。

Larry Poole, in prison on a false charge, promises an inmate that when he gets out he will look up and help out a family. The family turns out to be a young girl, Patsy Smith, and her elderly grandfather who need lots of help. This delays Larry from following his dream and going to Venice and becoming a gondolier. Instead, he becomes a street singer and, while singing in the street, meets a pretty welfare worker, Susan Sprague. She takes a dim view of Patsy's welfare under the guardianship of Larry and her grandfather and starts proceedings to have Patsy placed in an orphanage.

On Christmas Eve, Jae-Yul, as Santa Claus, brings gifts to children in a rich village and in a poor village. This year, he faces an unexpected event.