The chief insists Capuana dedicate to the case, as he's the best man for the job, even in the heat of scrutiny from the papers consistently criticizing the competence of the police.

As the murder is high-profile, the police put a rush on rounding up the usual suspects of gays, transvestites, prostitutes, drug addicts, and vagrants, with no promising results.

Professor Casali, Capuana's trusted colleague, provides critical insight and offers a psychological profile of the killer through autopsy work and analysis of the crime's execution.

Casali's trusted assistant in the morgue, Gastone, is briefly considered a suspect by Capuani, as he retains naked pictures of the dead women he prepares and is possibly a necrophile, but this worry is soon dispatched.

The pressure increases on the police, and Capuana and the chief are utterly begrudged by the public backlash and the missing leads they needed to break the case.