When Jaspa and his friends learn their pal Ernest (who we first met in The Pride of London) has gone missing, a clue leads them from the streets of London to the canals of Venice in Italy. There they meet a local Foxses named Albertee, who reveals Ernest isn’t the only one to have disappeared in recent months.
For almost a year, Ses have also been going missing all across Venice. The most recent Vanished, as Albertee calls them, are the Foxses’ own wife and children. So, what started for Jaspa as the search for one lost friend, becomes a mission to rescue Ernest and all the Vanished of Venice. Assuming the little Ratses is even in the famous City of the Sea.
In the meantime, Ernest finds himself imprisoned in the roofspace of an ancient building, with no idea where he is or how he got there. His only contact with the world outside his tiny cell are his silent jailors, and the slightly friendlier, if equally untalkative, Ses who brings his meals.
Will Jaspa, Albertee and their friends succeed in solving the mystery of Venice’s Vanished? Can they locate and free Albertee’s family and Ernest? Or will the Ratses from London have to save himself?