 As he slumps to the floor, John has a vision of the vaporetto and realises it is a premonition of the scene in a few days time when Laura and the sisters will arrive back for his funeral.Timothy Grey, a prep school master, takes a holiday to the Greek island of Crete, intending to find some solitude in which to paint.On arrival at his hotel, he asks to move his accommodation to a better chalet, near the water's edge, which the hotel management agrees to with some reluctance.