In northern Italy, in a field overgrown with weeds, a mutilated corpse is found. The investigation, as usual, is entrusted to the Commissioner of the Venetian Police, Guido Brunetti. A ring discovered next to the corpse makes it possible to identify the murdered man as the recently abducted scion of an ancient aristocratic family. To understand what caused the death of the young heir to a huge fortune, Brunetti must find out everything about his family and activities. The opening picture plunges the experienced commissioner into shock.