We know that money alone does not make you happy, and that it can even be dangerous. But the fact that money cannot even prevent loneliness is something that an English art collector had to find out the hard way. Sara Hirsch appeals to Marshal Guarnaccia for help. She has the feeling that someone has been in her apartment. First of all she smelled it, and secondly, she found a kitchen knife in the hall in a place where she is sure she did not put it. Furthermore, the old lady received an anonymous postcard that began: »Now that we know where you live…« Guarnaccia suspects it is the work of an unscrupulous landlord who hopes to rid himself of a tiresome tenant so that he can put up the rent. He advises Mrs Hirsch to contact her lawyer and promises to come and see her the following day. Next day, however, Guarnaccia is called out to a break-in at a villa belonging to an English art collector called Sir Christopher. Although the only thing missing is a pair of silver hairbrushes, Guarnaccia's boss, Captain Maestrangelo, accompanies the Marshal to the scene of the crime. It is not long before Guarnaccia discovers why: the Captain hopes to catch a glimpse of the Monet painting in Sir Christopher's possession. Instead, the two men find a garden full of white flowers that develop their full scent only at twilight, a lily pond with goldfish and a statue that Guarnaccia believes to be a copy of the statue in the Boboli gardens. In fact, however, it is the original Roman statue from 200 BC. Guarnaccia is so busy with this new case that he almost forgets the elderly Mrs Hirsch. When he eventually visits her, he finds her dead in her apartment, and Guarnaccia suffers pangs of conscience.