This episode revolves round a presumed kidnapping of the daughter of a once-wealthy man now reduced to caring for his terminally ill wife. The man's brother does most of the talking; it turns out he that he looks after many local patients, including a farmer's wife and part-time prostitute (Clelia Rondinella). Meanwhile Montalbano (Luca Zingaretti) has to deal with another police inspector who has been assigned to the case - much against Montalbano's will - by the Chief.
Structurally speaking this episode is quite flabby; the girl's father doesn't appear in the second half (suggesting that he was either indisposed or removed from the cast), while too much time has been given over to sequences showing Montalbano walking through the deserted streets of Vigata. There are also some sequences irrelevant to the development of the story: we do not really need to see a chaste sex-scene where the kidnapped girl yields her virginity to her boyfriend, the night before she allegedly disappears.
On the other hand, as in most episodes, there are incidental pleasures, such as the sequence where Montalbano interviews the girl's university friend at the friend's house, and discovers to his horror that she wants to invite her other friends to take his photograph. He quits the house with undue haste, relieved to be able to continue his investigations.
Agent Catarella (Angelo Russo) once again provides comic relief, although perhaps he mugs rather too much for the camera to reveal his harassment. Sometimes he can get more laughs by toning down his performance somewhat.