pencil and story: Vittorio Giardino

Sam Pezzo is a run-of-the-mill private investigator who has also run into trouble with the law.
To make a living he has to settle for debt collection for a usurer, but he's not very good at his job.
When he tries to collect money from a jockey, Rino Salvi, he finds himself involved in a clandestine betting round.
The criminals look for the jockey for not missing a fixed race and use Sam Pezzo and Salvi's girlfriend Terry Wang to find him.
When the killers try to kill Rino Salvi, Terry is killed in his place.
Wang's family contacts Sam Pezzo, to find the instigators of the crime.
After a series of cheating, betrayals and shootings, Sam Pezzo discovers that Salvi's partner is Terry's sister, Lia Wang, but the crimes are orchestrated by her uncle, who intends to take control of the betting racket.
An old-fashioned detective story, a classic noir well done by Giardino.
NB: in 2023 the original cover of this story was quoted between 6,000 and 9,000 Euros!