Venice, 1742. Tito Amato has regained his zest for performing and is once again singing lead roles at the Teatro San Marco. On opening night, the famous castrato has the entire audience entranced--except for one box with its scarlet curtains stubbornly drawn. Annoyed at being ignored, Tito aims the full force of his golden throat at the fourth-tier box. He is astounded when the curtains part and a woman tumbles over the railing. The victim is Zulietta Giardino, a mischievous courtesan involved with a young glass maker. As Tito was the only one to see the masked man who pushed Zulietta to her death, the chief of Venice's rudimentary police force requests the singer's assistance. Did a wager over a rival courtesan's jewels spell Zulietta's death? Or did the motive involve sinister elements in the glass factories of Murano?