Coartada en disco rojo (1972)

Experienced surgeons Roberto Carli and Michele Azzini are renowned medical authorities and work together at the clinic owned by Elena, Roberto’s wife, which she inherited from her father. As the company’s majority shareholder, she shares its management with Luisi, the chief administrator and minority shareholder. Her husband is a former alcoholic, which has damaged his reputation, while his assistant, Azzini, wants to work elsewhere so he can build a life with his fiancée, Dr. Paola Lombardi, a colleague. She had an affair with Roberto, and Azzini suspects she is still in love with him. Madly in love with her, he wants to get her away from Roberto by marrying her. Secretly in love with Azzini, Elena is worried that his departure could bring the clinic into disrepute, and offers him a more prestigious position as a partner. But she makes him an enticing offer: if he stays, she will give him a large share of her clinic’s stock, at Luisi’s expense. Luisi is not only in love with her but would also be left worse off. Suffering from a serious heart condition that could kill her at the slightest emotional shock, Elena is willing to do anything to keep Azzini. But before he can give her a positive answer to her offer, he is found murdered in his office, shot three times. Commissioner Nardi, who is in charge of the investigation, first suspects Carli. Suffering from a severe nervous breakdown, Carli has a solid alibi, which leads Nardi to turn his attention to Paola. He discovers that she is the beneficiary of a million-dollar life insurance policy taken out shortly before by her now-deceased fiancé. Meanwhile, he tells his assistant Félix to get the only witness to the crime to talk: a parrot...