We Still Kill the Old Way

The local pharmacist Arturo Manno begins receiving death threats, a fact that shocks his friends in the close-knit town. They know Manno as a known womanizer, so the menace is hardly unexpected, yet its presence casts a pall over the community. The suggestion of violence hangs over daily life as the story begins.

Early one morning, Manno and his friend Antonio Roscio are killed while hunting. The double tragedy sends shockwaves through the town and triggers an urgent investigation. The immediate aftermath fuses personal loss with mounting suspicion among the locals.

After the murders, suspicion falls on Rosina's father and her two brothers, since Rosina had been Manno's mistress. The alleged culprits are illiterate, making the extortion letters seem suspect. The case hints at a deeper conspiracy beyond a simple family vendetta.

Professor Laurana notes that the extortion letters were crafted from clipped pieces of Osservatore Romano, a Vatican newspaper with only a couple of local subscribers. This detail leads him to doubt the straightforward guilt of Rosina's family. He senses a more sophisticated motive behind the threats and killings.

Laurana asks his lawyer friend Rosello to take care of the detained suspects and begins his own inquiry into the case. He is secretly driven by his love for Luisa Roscio, the widow of Manno's murdered companion. This personal motive pushes him toward risky discoveries.

Roscio's father hands over Roscio's diary to Laurana, but pages are missing, hinting that someone has hidden crucial information. Laurana realizes the diary could contain evidence related to the threats and the corrupt figure Roscio had been pursuing. The missing pages become a symbol of concealed truth.

Laurana learns that Roscio feared for his life because he was collecting evidence against a corrupt prominent citizen from their hometown. He believes the death threats against Manno were a cover to silence Roscio. The realization deepens the danger surrounding Laurana and his investigation.

Luisa Roscio suspects her cousin Rosello might be involved in the case, adding personal tension to the investigation. She questions loyalties and motives as Laurana follows other leads. The suspicion strains relationships and complicates the quest for truth.

Laurana meets Rosello, who drives him toward a mysterious appointment. Realizing his life is in danger, Laurana pretends that he has left a diary with the details of his research in Palermo. Rosello becomes enraged and, after this confrontation, drives him back to the village and throws him out of the car.

The next day, Laurana tells Luisa that the diary never existed and that his earlier claim was a bluff. Luisa takes him to a seaside location and leaves him after again rejecting his blunt advances. The confrontation marks a turning point in their turbulent relationship and in Laurana's line of inquiry.

A group of local men beat Laurana, kill him, and let his body disappear, making his pursuit seem to end in tragedy. The violence demonstrates the peril faced by anyone who challenges the town's crimes. The murder compounds the sense that truth itself is being buried.

Some time later, Rosello and Luisa marry, watched by Rosello's and Laurana's acquaintances. They comment disparagingly on the scheme while noting Laurana's naivety and the fragility of those who pursued the truth. The marriage signals a sort of uneasy closure to the personal side of the story.

As the town rests on the outcomes, lingering questions about the broader conspiracy remain unspoken. The scheme’s success, coupled with Laurana's fate, leaves a haunting sense of unresolved truth in the community. Acquaintances remember the pursuit and its costs, underscoring how secrets can outlive their pursuers.