Olivia Birkett, American ex-model and fashion designer, formerly married as Contessa Brunamonti, who, with iron discipline and a great deal of élan has not only succeeded in paying off the debts of her confidence trickster husband but also in gaining an established position in the Italian Alta moda with her own fashion collection, has been kidnapped. Naturally, Guarnaccia's boss claims the best part of the case for himself, and Marshal Guarnaccia is instructed to comfort the daughter and the despairing son of the abducted woman, who has been missing for several days, in the Brunamonti Palace. But there is information to be gained from the servants: namely, that the Contessa is nothing like as rich as the kidnappers believe, that all her money is tied up in her fashion company, and that the daughter is trying with unseemly haste to take her mother's place although the employees regard her as incapable of running a business.