Silvio Luparello, an engineer, developer and aspiring politician from an aristocratic construction family, dies of a heart attack while having sex with his nephew and lover Giorgio at his beach house.

This he does by attempting to cast Cardamone's Swedish daughter-in-law Ingrid as Luparello's lover and implicating her in his death – at the scene of a seamy outdoor brothel.

Montalbano then destroys the planted evidence against her and makes sure that Rizzo pays a reward for the necklace (so that the garbage man and his wife can send their sick child out of the country for proper medical treatment).

The story wraps up with Montalbano "playing God" by ignoring a gun that he finds in the beach house, thus giving Giorgio the opportunity to avenge his uncle's betrayal by beating up and killing Rizzo.

In the end though Giorgio, too, dies – in a car accident – after previously having had one due to an epileptic seizure that required him to wear a neck brace (which we assume is the same one that Montalbano found at the outdoor brothel, and which we also assume was there because of being used by Rizzo and the Ingrid look-alike to make Luparello appear to be alive during the "sex" act at the outdoor brothel).