<DIV>When magistrate Matteo Arconti's namesake, an insurance man from Milan, is found dead outside the court buildings in Piazzo Clodio, it's a clear warning to the authorities in Romea message of defiance and intimidation from a powerful crime syndicate. <B><B>Commissario Alec Blume, interpreting the reference to his other ongoing casea frustrating one in which he's so far been unable to pin murder on a mafia boss operating at an untouchable distance in Germany knows he's too close to it. Handing control of the investigation to his partner, Caterina, Blume takes a backseat. And while Caterina embarks on questioning the Milanese widow, Blume has had an underhand idea of his own to lure the arrogant mafioso out of his hiding place ...</DIV>