When Commissario Brunetti is summoned to the hospital bedside of a senior paediatrician whose skull has been fractured, he is confronted with more questions than answers. Three men - a Carabinieri captain and two privates from out of town - have burst into the doctor's apartment in the middle of the night, attacked him and taken away his eighteen-month old son. What can have motivated such a violent assault by the police? As he investigates Brunetti begins to uncover a story of infertility, desperation, and an underworld in which babies can be bought for cash. Meanwhile, Inspector Vianello has uncovered a money-making scam between pharmacists and doctors in the city. But one of the pharmacists is motivated by more than thoughts of gain...