A wealthy Countess asks Don Matteo to officiate at the funeral of a guest at an old age home, Libero Ferretti. The woman doesn't want anyone to know that she's paying for it. Don Matteo investigates and discovers that Ferretti did not die a natural death. The murder suspects |  | are two: Ottavio, the Countess'son, who disapproved of the relationship between his mother and Libero and the manager of the old age home, an unscrupulous man who mistreated the home's guests. |  |