In the north of Italy, in a field overgrown with weeds, a mutilated corpse is found. As usual, the investigation is assigned to Guido Brunetti, commissioner of the Venetian police. A ring found near the body allows identifying the murdered man: it was the recently kidnapped heir of an ancient aristocratic family. To understand what caused the death of the young successor to a huge fortune, Brunetti must find out everything about his family and habits. The picture that begins to emerge shocks the experienced commissioner.