The Year of the Mantis

by P J Mann

  She stood up, gathering the folders on her desk, ready to reach the room designated for the meeting.

  The air was already heated as they entered the room. The tension between Madlen and Giulia was tangible, and Luciano tried all his best to act as a cushion between the two, who might have forgotten their ladyship and start fighting like wrestlers in the arena.

  “Ehem.” Silvia coughed gently to gather their attention, as she entered the room with Maurizio walking behind her. “Good afternoon, everybody. I would appreciate it if you could leave your arguments outside this office, so we can go forward with the reading.”

  It wasn’t the first time that people who arrived to listen to the testament of a dear one, took the chance to take out old and new strife. It belonged to the process. After the mourning, they were ready to bury each other to get their hands on the inheritance. Regardless of whether it was for a pin or for a fortune, people always had to argue about who deserved and who didn’t.

  Giulia glared at Madlen with pursed lips, before turning her eyes to the attorney, and Madlen grunted, placing her chair as far as possible from her.

  With a smirk, Maurizio grabbed one of the chairs available and went to sit down between the two fighters, to avoid any further action that would have taken place, and the reading could start in a peaceful manner.

  His position also had a strategic value, as the young Calvani, who sat on the other side was clearly observable from the point he was. Madlen’s and Luciano’s reactions and behavior were what he aimed to observe. Giulia was certainly bitter, but it was clear she didn’t have any reason or possibility to kill her ex-husband.

  Silvia sat down at her desk and scanned, one after the other, the people in the room. “As you all know, I have invited you here this afternoon to read you the final wills of Mr. Claudio Calvani. Each of you has been mentioned in his testament, and I wish to have the chance to finish the reading without any interruption, and particularly to have this session proceed in the most civilized way.” She glanced at Giulia and Madlen, who were obviously the only two people present in the room who were ready to start a fight.

  She took a short pause, and when she was sure she had their spirits calmed, with a slow movement, she opened the folder, where the testament was stored. Taking another visual tour of the heirs, Silvia began the reading:

  I, Claudio Calvani, hereby declare that this is my last will and testament. I declare that I am of legal age to make this will and sound of mind and body. It expresses my wishes without undue influence or duress.

  Although I have divorced my wife Giulia Martini, I recognize that without her help, the family business would have never reached the point where it is now. She has been working hard to keep our family intact. Despite the fact that our paths have taken on different directions, I feel obliged to recognize her the ownership of half of the family business.

  The other half is to go to my son, and I hope he will take advantage of the experience Giulia can offer, as to have a solid base for his career and the one of future generations.

  I possess a few real estate properties I have invested in, and they all will go to my son, Luciano. Certainly, we’ve had arguments in our life, but I hope he understood I never stopped loving him and never will.

  Maurizio glanced at Luciano’s reaction, and he was sure he could spot a slight twitch of his mouth, like a sarcastic grin that was forced back. His expression didn’t transpire any sort of emotion, and he wondered whether this was something to be considered. Giulia, instead, looked surprised for being included in the testament. Her open-mouthed expression had rendered her speechless, which was completely fitting for the situation. Madlen was perhaps still waiting to understand why she was summoned there, as there hadn’t been left anything for her share. Yet, she remained silently waiting.

  The attorney went on:

  In my life, I have also considered the eventuality that my business could drop and be crushed by the competitors, and leaving a dead company wouldn’t have sounded anything a parent should have looked for. For this reason, I have stipulated three life insurances. They all have the same value of 20 million Euros. The first one goes to my mother, the second one goes to Luciano, and the third one goes to Madlen Fazekas, my girlfriend. I understand if I had her included in the testament, my son wouldn’t have accepted to share the firm with a stranger. Somehow, I sense some hostility toward Madlen, although, so far, they’ve never met. I believe it has to do with her being the reason for the divorce from Giulia. I hope this decision won’t create any conflict between the heirs, and they will be able to keep any feelings of resentment aside.

  Silvia slowly placed the paper on her desk and raised her eyes to her audience.

  There was a long pause of silence, when nobody could find the right words to be spoken. Maurizio knew that was just a temporary situation and soon, all hell was going to break loose. Glancing at Silvia, he understood she was also waiting for the bomb to explode.

  “That’s the reason why you killed him!” Giulia yelled, standing from her chair glaring at Madlen. “You wanted his life insurance!”

  Madlen was obviously still shocked by the news, and it appeared as if she had no idea of the existence of such a piece of the settlement.

  “I had no idea! I loved Claudio, I would never have killed him, and I didn’t know anything about this insurance!” She stood from the chair and felt the judging stares of everyone on her. Indeed, that was the most obvious reason for someone to kill, but she was ready to swear on everything she hadn’t done it.

  She glanced at Maurizio, who remained calmly seated on the chair, pondering on the situation, observing the reactions, and trying to get an opinion about it.

  “Aren’t you going to do anything, Detective?” Giulia wondered, outraged at his calm.

  “Mrs. Martini, what am I supposed to do?” Maurizio furrowed his brows, knowing she was wondering why he hadn’t already arrested Madlen for the murder of her ex-husband. “Having a good reason for killing Mr. Calvani, is not sufficient proof to bring her to jail. The investigation is still ongoing, and we need more than just a suspicion.”

  Madlen toured with her eyes Maurizio and Giulia as if to wonder whether they could have decided of her fate right away.

  Giulia threw her hands in the air in an exasperated attempt to be heard, or to have someone who could have listened to her. “That woman stole my husband, just to kill him!” She pointed her finger to Madlen, her voice trembling as old feelings appeared from a hidden corner of her heart; the same feelings she still held for the man she married. Despite the fact that she addressed him as a jerk and asshole, without the intervention of Madlen in their lives, she would still have addressed him with dear words. “Without her, my husband and I would have remained married, and he would still be alive today.” Tears welled from her eyes.

  “Claudio came to me, not the other way round. I had no idea he was married. When I met him, he told me he was planning a divorce.” Madlen tried to defend herself and her relationship with Claudio.

  “Bullshit!” Giulia yelled at the top of her lungs.

  “Mrs. Martini, please come with me, you need to calm down,” Silvia came to offer her a friendly shoulder to cry on. Holding Giulia, she guided her outside, glancing at Maurizio, hoping he understood he needed to bring Madlen outside and try to calm the waters.

  “I guess we all need to leave now,” Maurizio announced, glancing at Madlen and Luciano. One thing baffled him; it was that Luciano appeared as cold as an ice cube for the entire length of the reading. He had no idea whether he was a person who preferred to keep everything inside, even the tears and emotions, or there was something sincerely scary about his behavior.

  “I will go to see whether my mother needs my help,” Luciano whispered, and without greeting or waiting for any answer from Maurizio or Madlen, he left the room, walking in the same direction as Giulia.

  “Detective, you have to believe me, I haven’t killed Claudio. He never talked to me about any me
ans to secure my future—we were not thinking about the possibility of dying. He was still young!” Tears started to flow like a river from her eyes, and Maurizio could understand the reason why he felt attracted to this woman. Scala didn’t try to justify Claudio, but her beauty was something uncommon to be seen in everyday life.

  “Ms. Fazekas, you certainly understand I have to consider this as proof. Yet, it doesn’t mean I am going to arrest you only on this basis, until we find who is responsible for the murder of Claudio Calvani.” He locked his eyes on hers, trying to make her feel confident that despite the fact that there were a few suspects, there wasn’t any steady lead on anyone, at the moment.

  “I loved Claudio,” she wept, trying to wipe her tears away.

  Gently Maurizio placed a hand on her shoulder, and guided her out of the room, and the building. As they were in the parking lot, she turned her glance at Maurizio. “Thank you, Detective Scala. I will return home now, and I will remain available to answer every question you need.”

  “Do you need a ride back home?” He asked.

  With a fast shake of her head, she tried to smile, “No. Thank you, perhaps a bit of fresh air will help me to clear my thoughts. All I need now is to be alone.”

  With those words, she turned on her heels and walked away.

  Maurizio remained there for a moment before deciding to take the car and return to the precinct. He looked at the clock; it was already four o’clock. He knew that returning to the office meant he had to write down his impressions and some notes about the new details obtained during the day. “I’ll be late at home, so it’s better if I inform Anna about this. She can have her dinner with Giovanna and leave something for me,” he mumbled as he started to write her a message.

  Placing the mobile phone back in his pocket, he recalled he was also supposed to contact the real estate manager to start finding buyers for his apartment and another place to move to. This is not something I can’t take care of personally; they need to step in and make the deal for me.

  As he was reaching his car, his mobile phone started to ring. That was something he wasn’t expecting, particularly because it came from an unknown number and it was to his personal number.

  “Scala,” he answered.

  “Detective, this is Berenice Moretti, and I happened to recall some details that might be of interest in your investigation,” she kept her voice low as if she needed to hide from somebody.

  Dumbfounded on how she possibly could have had access to his private number, he remained silent for a moment. “Mrs. Moretti, who gave you this number?”

  “Never underestimate an elderly lady. I have lived longer and have seen many things you would never imagine. I have my ways to get the information I need,” she giggled, amused. “There’s a young lady, working at the reception desk of the Police Department who is my hairdresser’s daughter. We’ve known each other since forever, and although she was a little reticent, she understood my information was of vital importance to the investigation.”

  “Well, if it’s so, then I’m all ears...”

  “You are not expecting me to tell you those details on the phone. You should know better than me that those devices are easily intercepted. I am not going to have indiscreet ears listening to what I need to tell you, so you’ll have to come here,” she kept whispering.

  A deep exhale escaped him, making him regretting having ever talked to that woman. Nevertheless, she could have important information, and every road was worth trying, but perhaps not that day, as he already knew it would have taken almost an eternity and a half to go through all the details of the reading. “Would it be okay if I come by tomorrow morning?”

  “Why can’t you come right away?” She wondered, surprised that the detective seemed to underestimate the importance of her information.

  “Because at the moment I’m busy and it will take at least three hours to have things ready for me to reach you. I would also like to return to my life for the evening,” he explained with a smile on his face.

  A short pause was necessary for her to think about what was better to do, “So it shall be. I will write down everything I need to tell you, so I won’t forget overnight. I am sure I’ll remember, but it’s better to have a backup somewhere,” she declared walking to the living room to find a notebook where she could have written everything.

  “Brilliant idea. At what time would it be convenient for you to meet me?” he asked as he started to walk once again to his car.

  “After seven o’clock, any time is fine for me,” she replied, expecting him to reach her perhaps a bit later.

  “I will be there at nine o’clock. It might take some time with the morning traffic on the streets,” he considered, thinking about the best route from the Police Precinct to the apartment where she lived.

  “I’ll be waiting for you, Detective. Thank you for your attention, and have a good evening.”

  “Good night to you too, Mrs. Moretti.”

  Placing his phone on the passenger seat, he sighed. He wondered whether his life could have been easier without improvised detectives, who have seen too many Hollywood movies and consider themselves real investigators.

  Shaking his head, he started up the engine focusing only on what he needed to take care of once he would be back in the office.

  He hoped he could count on the help of Leonardo, but he knew that for the moment, he would have been extremely busy with the results of the lab and wouldn’t have the time to brainstorm together.

  CHAPTER 9

  That night, in the darkness of his room, Luciano couldn’t sleep. The reading of his father’s will brought many thoughts to his mind and he wondered whether the one who was supposed to die was Madlen, or maybe both together.

  If it weren’t for her, it would have been his job, his friends, another woman, or whatever other excuses. He never had time for me; I was just an accessory or a plan B, for those times when he had nothing to do.

  He stood from his bed, and switched the lights on, to avoid being left alone in the darkness with his ghosts and demons. He wanted to call Irina as his glance met the alarm clock on the bedside table.

  She’s probably sleeping. I should have called her earlier, but I needed to calm down my mother, and from now on we will need to think about the running of the firm. That place won’t run by itself, regardless of whether the leading team can go on for the general matters, they need to have a representative figure in place.

  He tiptoed to the window, to avoid making any noise.

  He slowly opened the window, to allow the nighttime buzz of the city to enter and break the silence taunting him.

  The slight background noise of the few cars that circulated comforted him and, despite the cold night air, he considered the possibility of keeping the window open, so as not to be assailed, again, by that agonizing loneliness.

  Fearing that he had underestimated the consequences of his father’s death, he felt a sense of oppression at the thought of the responsibilities that would soon be placed on his shoulders.

  The following morning he should have returned to attend classes at the university. I’m also wondering whether this would be the end of my academic career. I should probably get started immediately with running the business, after all, this is going to be my job from this moment on.

  The thought of having a job before reaching the middle of his studies, was something that comforted yet scared him. It was extremely difficult to create a career from nothing, and many would have paid whatever sum to be able to secure a solid career in the family business.

  Most people had to struggle to find a regular job. Yet, he suddenly felt unfit for the role and wondered whether it would have been only a question of learning those managerial skills his father mastered to perfection, or that was something he was supposed to have as a natural gift.

  With a slow movement, shivering from the cold, he closed the windows, as the world with its noises and struggles came to him as a barely audible muffled sound
.

  Once again, the silence dropped like a heavy curtain on the room.

  “I need to sleep now. Tomorrow I will think about the rest, and perhaps Mom will help me, guiding me to this new life.” He walked to the writing table, and grabbing one sheet of paper, he started to make a list of things he needed to solve.

  The first one being the work situation, second his academic career. Should he quit or try a part-time working schedule to fulfill at least the bachelor’s degree? Another thing was to start the process to obtain the insurance money and secure the funds.

  “Another important thing is to have a chat with Irina, and straighten up things as well with her. I wish I could say I would marry her, but if I told my mother I have a relationship with the daughter of the woman who stole her husband, it would cause a deeper scar in her heart,” he whispered, glancing at the ceiling as if to find a solution to solve his life from that bundle of emotions, complications and bureaucratic matters, clogging his mind making him unable to think clearly.

  He closed his eyes, hoping to receive any sort of help or enlightenment but nothing arrived. The siren of an ambulance from afar reached his ears and forced his eyes to open. He remained frozen for a moment to follow the wailing of sirens as it faded away.

  That sound, closely related to that of the Police cars had his heart pounding in his chest. He wondered whether this feeling would have accompanied him for the rest of his life, or will there come a time when he could listen to Police cars arriving without fearing them.

  Time would have provided an answer, and probably it would have taken some time to fully recover from that feeling.

  “I need to sleep, before I lose my mind.” He stood from the chair and decided to get some sleeping pills.

  ***

  The morning after, Maurizio reached the address of Berenice exactly on time, and the presence of the Forensic Police car, parked in front of it, gave him the idea to go and check what was the situation going on there. That was the perfect chance to kill two birds with one stone. He could have a chat with Leonardo about the reading he witnessed the previous day and having a visit with Berenice, hoping none of the two actions would have resulted in a waste of time.