A question of inheritance

the long version

The sudden death of a small child in a crib is an occurrence as inexplicable and unexpected as it is shocking. But when such an event comes at the moment when incentive and opportunity for crime all conspire, the temptation for an already weak and greedy person becomes an ultimate opportunity. This was certainly the case for Mrs. Florence Bennet, nee Maisie Atkins, an actress past her prime, with a life of comfort and security totally threatened. She married to provide a rich older man an heir and now that heir was dead. When a violent crime takes place twenty years later, Mrs. Bennet's schemes come back to haunt her. With the unearthing of a child's teething ring, a police investiga- tion begins which involves young Philip Bennet, his ebullient Aunt Amy Tupper (whom we met in *Wolf! Wolf!*) and Philip's girlfriend Carlotta. Their search for truth takes them back to the Italy of the 1950s and leads to a climax involving such a particular and individual brand of bravery that it answers the question of inheritance once and for all.