Jessica vacations in Italy, where she joins a tour that takes her to a variety of private homes, restaurants, and rural churches where lesser-known Italian masterworks are displayed. Her idyllic time is interrupted by a pair of young Italian gunmen who steal a painting off a church wall, killing a retired policeman in the process. Agreeing to help identify the crokks, at a later date should they be caught, Jessica returns to Cabot Cove and tries to put the shocking experience behind her, but it won't be left in the past.