The excerpts track Commissario Brunetti's investigation into the seemingly accidental death of Franco Rossi, an official from the Ufficio Catasto who had recently notified Brunetti about illegal construction on his apartment. Brunetti quickly realizes Rossi was murdered for uncovering a widespread system of bureaucratic corruption related to falsified building permits. This illicit activity is deeply intertwined with powerful Venetian moneylenders, the Volpatos, who exploit financially desperate citizens facing large fines. Using a sensational, fabricated story involving an infectious bite mark left on the perpetrator by a subsequent murder victim, Brunetti successfully identifies the killer as Giovanni Dolfin, a vulnerable relative of one of the corrupt officials. Although Brunetti is able to leverage the confession to target the high-ranking official Fabrizio dal Carlo, the narrative concludes with Brunetti's conflicted acceptance of a political favor that ensures the legality of his own apartment.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.