On this dull, rainy day in early November, even Florence looks sullen and unlovely. But that is not, surely, why an elderly Jewish architect walked into the River Arno. Nor does it offer any answers as to the disappearance of Veronica Hutton, a reckless young heiress killing time till marriage at one of the city’s many international art academies. And most of all, the weather does not explain why both these cases should end up on the desk of Sandro Cellini, a disgraced former policeman who has ignored his wife's excellent advice and set up shop as a private eye.