A mysterious young woman writes to an older gentleman, Michele Riotta, who has long been a notary in Agrigento. In his youth, he published a book about the Impressionist painter Auguste Renoir, in which he points to the existence of an unknown work by the artist that has never been discovered by the art world, hidden away in a village church in Calabria. Riotta's letters hint that he holds back other knowledge about Renoir, such as a strange journey the artist took to Agrigento, where he encountered difficulties and painted a picture that no one knows about. In his love for this enigmatic lady, Riotta increasingly loses control, and soon his letters and the story of the two come to an abrupt end. From Riotta's letters, Andrea Camilleri weaves a love story and an art mystery.