When the letter first arrived at the offices of Rome's Art　Theft Squad, General Bottando thought it was just　another deranged demand from a demented art fan. But the- mysterious correspondent is a woman who claims to know　 something about a painting that was stolen over thirty years　 ago--and Bottando believes the theft was just one in a series of clever heists masterminded by an elusive thief h~'s dubbed　 "Giotto." Anxious to outwit the conniving colleague who's　 plotting his professional destruction, Bottando sends the beautiful Flavia di Stefano to investigate. Flavia quickly uncovers a possible culprit--but when her art-dealer boyfriend Jonathan Argyll, travels to England to question him, the suspect is very suspiciously dead...