At a dinner party given by his parents-in-law Comissario Brunetti meets Franca Marinello, the wife of a Venetian businessman. He's charmed suggests his wife Paola - by her love of Virgil and Cicero, but shocked by her appearance. A few days later, Brunetti is visited by Carabinieri Maggiore Filipo Guarino from the nearby district of Marghera.