Chapter 6, "The Rat Man of Treviso" Summary

Chapter 6 opens with Berendt arriving at the Carnival ball with the Lauritzens. The ball takes place at the Palazzo Pisani-Moretta, a palace with a gothic fazade. Rose Lauritzen is talking about Woody Allen, and how he had been charged with trespassing at the Fenice. At the ball, Berendt meets the McAlpines-Alistair and Romilly. The McAlpines came to live in Venice after their house in London was bombed by the IRA. Berendt joins the Lauritzens at a table with many other people. It is at this table that Berendt meets the rat man of Treviso.

The rat man of Treviso is a man who is the inventor of one of the world's most popular rat poison. The chapter centralizes on Massimo Donadon, a man who refers to himself as a world-renowned chef...