We begin a new episode of Commissioner Manara. Lara is bedridden with a fever, and there is a missing person reported at the station. And if that weren't enough, someone was found dead by the side of the road.

A man found dead in the middle of the road, the cyclist who found him, and Commissioner Manara who as usual, is the center of attention.

Manara and his team are still looking for the hit-and-run driver who killed the tramp, and investigating the vineyard owner's disappearance. Lara gives Manara a clue as to why she's still angry with him.

While the countess points out where she found the cartridge shell, Manara and his squad find blood spatters on the floor of the cellar.

The Commissioner and Lara question Count Lapo's oenologist, one of the last people to have seen the Count.

Lara's aunt visits Malvina, bringing along her snooping dog. Together they find a ripped up business card in a wastebasket.

"We have a missing Count, a cellar full of blood, a mysterious Frenchman..." is how Commissioner Manara sums up the investigation to this point.

Cioni, the Count's neighbor and rival vintner, is interrogated by Manara and Lara. Without a warrant, there's only so far they can go.

Ferocious bull terriers force Manara and Rubino into a refrigerated meat truck.

While they're huddled together in the meat truck, Commissioner Manara tries to wheedle out of Lara the reason she's still angry at him from police academy days.

Charles Ferrant's body has been discovered by a fisherman. The Count is still missing, and Lara's aunt wants a word with Malvina, the Count's housekeeper.

Manara and Lara go over the points of the case. Lara suggests getting a warrant for Cioni, the Count's difficult neighbor.

Manara obtains a warrant and brings Cioni in for questioning. Cioni continues to deny any meeting with the Count. This become untenable when he's asked to consider that his fingerprints are on a glass in the Count's cellar.

While Cioni is questioned by Manara, Count Lapo returns on the scene. Unfortunately, his memory of what happened is very imperfect.

Cione is allowed to go home after Lapo admits to the shooting. However, some aspects of the investigation, like the mysterious blood stain in the cellar, still don't square.