In an exclusive resort in a dark, threatening pine forest on the coast of Tuscany, the rich and famous are gathering at their second homes for Christmas. On the morning that a husband and wife from one of the heavily-guarded villas go missing, a certain Count Delaude is washed up, battered to death, on the seashore.

The cast list promises intrigue from the beginning. The count, a sponger and a sham had arrived under cover of dark with a beautiful young woman scheming to be a top model. Two comedians seclude themselves as they try to overcome a writing block. The depressive Signor Monforte, a retired academic, tries to woo a beautiful divorcee, while another, a woman this time, prepares to leave her husband. Two elderly spinsters and their Filipina maid are aghast at the awful predictions of their Tarot pack. The local police is inept, so Monforte finds himself in the role of detective, and is triumphant.