Brunetti is an expert in keeping the wishes of Venice's grandees out of his work. Even the inspector cannot avoid the venerable Contessa Lando-Continui. The 80-year-old asks him to clear up a long-ago family tragedy: She would like to know how her niece fell from a bridge in which the then 15-year-old almost drowned. Due to the irreversible brain damage, Manuela, now 30 years old, remains at the mental level of a 6-year-old (small) child - and it will stay that way forever. When the lifesaver at the time was murdered at the same time, the closed case became unexpectedly topical. Now the inspector wants to find out what the honorable family has covered up and why Manuela's father had to start a new life in the Far East. The mighty Contessa also called him in after all these years of silence - but without revealing what it was all about. The inspector also comes across granite from the strict patriarch. Her close confidante Sandro Vittori-Ricciardi plays an opaque role, as does Stefano Dalla Lana, the murdered man's best friend. Brunetti puts his team on the two cases in which he suspects a direct connection. In a daring scenario, he wants to unravel the truth from the felt of interests and intrigues.
—ARD Das Erste