Revolving round a plot of two long-interred bodies, a terracotta dog, some obsolete money and possible Mafia links, this episode of INSPECTOR MONTALBANO comes across as slightly confusing in terms of plot- construction. For the first hour, it seems that the resolution will have a lot to do with the Mafia, or at least some secret organization that appears to have faked a robbery at a local supermarket, forcing some of the plotters involved to invent an elaborate cover-up story. Montalbano finds out the truth behind it; that it involves a good deal of arms smuggling. However the terracotta dog plot has a lot to do with star-crossed lovers, neither of whom appear to have possessed any links to a secret organization. Eventually Montalbano has to stage a ruse in order to flush out the one person who can tell him the truth about the lovers' fate. Unlike other episodes, there are too many expository scenes in which characters recall the past while talking to the Inspector. The action remains largely undramatic save for a shoot-out sequence where the Inspector is seriously wounded and has to spend some considerable tine recovering in hospital.