When magistrate Matteo Arconti's namesake, an insurance man from Milan, is found dead outside the court buildings in Piazzo Clodio, it's a clear warning to the authorities in Rome-a message of defiance and intimidation from a powerful crime syndicate.

Commissioner Alec Blume, interpreting the reference to his other ongoing case-a frustrating one in which he's so far been unable to pin murder on a Mafia boss operating at an untouchable distance in Germany-knows he's too close to it. Handing control of the investigation to now live-in and not-so-secret partner Caterina Mattiola, Blume takes a backseat. And while Caterina embarks on questioning the Milanese widow, Blume has an underhand idea of his own to lure the arrogant mafioso out of his hiding place...