So Sweet, So Dead

Plot

Inspector Capuana, a small town investigator who transferred to the big city with his wife Barbara, investigates the murder of a brutally slashed woman found naked in her bed with developed photos scattered around her corpse, showing she was having an affair. The chief insists Capuana dedicate to the case, as he is the best man for the job, even under scrutiny from the papers criticizing police competence. The police rush to round up usual suspects—gays, transvestites, prostitutes, drug addicts, vagrants—with no promising results. Professor Casali, Capuana's trusted colleague, provides a psychological profile of the killer through autopsy work and analysis of the crime's execution. Casali's assistant Gastone is briefly considered a suspect for keeping naked pictures of dead women, but this worry is soon dispatched. More women are slashed at liaison places, in homes, and on a commuter train, all found with photos of affairs. One disabled husband dies from a fall after his wife's murder. Public backlash mounts, and Capuana and the chief are begrudged by missing leads. Barbara consoles Capuana, who wishes he were back home. A false suspect with mental instability falsely confesses; the killer, furious, anonymously calls Capuana, threatening to kill Barbara, revealing she is also cheating.