Commissar Guido Brunetti is approached for help by colleagues from the Carabinieri who are investigating the murder of the owner of a small transport company. But they are clearly obscure and do not say something, forcing Brunetti to once again resort to the services of the charming Elettra, the secretary of his immediate superior, who knows hacking techniques. Finding a solution to the crime is especially difficult, because the commissioner’s attention is endlessly distracted by the mysterious Franca Marinello, the young wife of a major businessman, whose once beautiful face was disfigured by plastic surgeons, turning it into a motionless mask. What secrets does this face hide? Brunetti will not find the answer to this question until two more bloody murders occur.