It is 1980 and Clare Phillips, a beautiful, young British free-lance journalist based in Rome and her friend Daniel, a young American priest, visit an Etruscan tomb and make a macabre discovery. Clare realizes that a kidnapping has taken place and, with Daniel's grudging help, decides to do some investigating on her own. With a background in archeology, Clare is also covering the announced purchase by the Vatican's Etruscan Museum of a valuable antique Greek wine cup - a kylix - painted by the world famous Euphronius. A major exhibit has been planned. The purchase turns out to have been engineered by an unscrupulous Argentinian archbishop and a greedy French diplomat, and Clare - with Daniel's help - uses her contacts to dig deeper. She gets advice from fellow journalists, including Luca, an Italian investigative reporter with whom she'd had a brief passionate fling, works closely with several of Italy's top investigating magistrates. But her determination to make a name for herself leads her repeatedly to strike out on her own. Gradually several things become clear. First, that the purchase may have been made with "dirty money", and second, that a avaricious Christian Democratic politician and his henchmen may also be involved in the kidnapping. Then, once the identity of the kidnapping victim becomes known, that the two events are inextricably linked. Clare's ambition puts her at risk on more than one occasion. The kylix will leave a bloody trail and the story, spun out against its Roman background, highlights the life of a dynamic foreign journalist in Italy.