An elderly merchant is found murdered and a young woman who may have been involved with him disappears the same day. Montalbano has to solve it quickly, along with finding out who's been stealing some school kids' lunches.
Dozing off en route to a funeral, Montalbano is awakened when his driver crashes next to a seemingly abandoned villa. He later investigates the property alone, finding a corpse and uncovering the secret lives of many people in Vigata.
