Tito is forced to leave his beloved Venice for Rome. A Venetian nobleman is offering Tito's singing as a bribe for a powerful Cardinal, in an attempt to swing his voting bloc toward a Venetian who is a candidate for next pope. Tito goes - very angrily indeed.

The murder of a pretty servant of the Cardinal turns into a political time bomb. Gemma was entirely too clever for her own good. Tito couldn't handle alone all the pitfalls these problems offer, but a couple of his trusted friends turn up in Rome. The denouement has the rush of an uncontrolled slide down hairpin turns.