You must understand, Inspector. As far as withdrawing the weapons possession charge, there's no problem, I've already called Mr Di Bksi's lawyer. But it's not quite so easy for me to lift the complicity charges. Until proved to the contrary, Maurizio Di Blasi is self-convicted of the murder of Michela Licalzi. My prerogatives in no way permit me to--'
'Good day,' said Montalbano, getting up and walking out.
Judge Tommaseo came running after him along the corridor.
Inspector, wait! I want to clarify--'
'There is nothing at all to clarify, Your Honour. Have you spoken with the commissioner?'
Yes, at great length. We met at eight o'clock this morning.'
'Then you must surely be aware of certain details of no importance to you. Such as the fact that the investigation of the Licalzi murder was conducted like a toilet-cleaning operation, that young Di Blasi was ninety-nine per cent innocent, that he was slaughtered like a pig by mistake, and that Panzacchi covered it all up. You can't dismiss the weapons charges against the engineer and at the same time not start proceedings against Panzacchi, who actually planted the weapons in his house.'
'I'm still examining Captain Panzacchi's situation.'
'Good. Examine it well But choose the right scales, among the many you keep in your office.'
Tommaseo was about to react, but reconsidered and said nothing.
'Tell me something, for the sake of curiosity,' said Montalbano. 'Why hasn't Mrs Licalzi's body been turned over to her husband yet?'
The judge's embarrassment became more pronounced. He clenched his right hand in a fist and stuck his right index finger in it.
'Uh, that was ... yes, that was Captain Panzacchi's idea. He pointed out to me that public opinion ... In short, first the body was found, then Di Blasi died, then the funeral of Mrs Licalzi, then young Maurizio's funeral ... Don't you see?'
'No.'
'It was better to spread them out, over time ... To relieve some of the pressure on people, all the crowding...'
He was still talking, but the inspector was already at the end of the corridor.
When he came out of the court building it was already two o'clock. But instead of retiirning to Vigata, he took the Enna--Palermo road Galluzzo had carefully explained to him how to find the petrol station and bar-restaurant where Michela Licalzi had been seen. The station, located just three kilometres outside Montelusa, was closed The inspector cursed the saints, drove another two kilometres, then saw, on his left, a sign that said truckers' bar-trattoria. As oncoming traffic was heavy, the inspector waited patiently for someone to decide to let him turn, but. seeing there was no hope in heaven, he cut right in front of everyone, amidst a pandemonium of screeching tyres, horn blasts, curses and insults, and pulled into the bar's parking lot.
It was very crowded inside. He walked up to the cashier.
'I'd like to speak with a Mr Gerlando Agro.' 'That's me. And who are you?' 'Inspector Salvo Montalbano. You phoned TeleVigata to say--'
'Well, goddamn it all. Did you have to come right now? Can't you see how busy I am?'
Montalbano got an idea that struck him as brilliant. 'How's the food here?'
'See those people sittin' down? They's all truckers. Ever seen a trucker go wrong?'
At the end of the meal (the idea hadn't been brilliant, but only good, the food remaining within ironclad limits of normality, with no; flights of fancy), after the coffee and anisette, the cashier, who'd got a boy to take his place, approached Montalbano's table.
'Now we can talk,' he said. 'OK if I sit down?'
'Of course.'
Gerlando Agro immediately had second thoughts. 'Maybe it's better if you come with me.' They went out of the building.
'OK. Wednesday, around eleven thirty at night, I was here outside, smoking a cigarette, and I saw this Twingo pull in off the Enna-Palermo road.'
'Are you sure?'
'I'd bet my life on it. The car stopped right in front of me, and a lady, who was driving, got out.'
Would also bet your life it was the same woman you saw on TV?'
'Inspector, with a woman like that, poor thing, it's hard to make a mistake.' 'Go on.'
'The man, on the other hand, stayed in the car.'
'How did you know it was a man?'
'See, there was a truck with its headlights on. I was surprised, because usually it's the man that gets out and the woman who stays in the car. Anyway, the lady ordered two salami sandwiches and bought a bottle of mineral water. My son Tanino was at the cash register, the same kid who's there now. The lady paid and went down these three steps here. But on the last step, she tripped and fell, and the sandwiches flew out of her hands. I went down the steps to help her up and I found myself face-to-face with the man, who'd got out of the car. "It's all right, it's all right," the lady said. The guy got back in the car, she ordered two more sandwiches, paid, and they drove off in the direction of Montelusa.'
'You've been very helpful, Mr Agro. And I assume you can also say that the man you saw on television was not the same man who was in the car with the lady.'
'Definitely not Two totally different people.'
'Where did the lady keep her money? In a large bag?'
'No sir, Inspector. She didn't have any bag. She had a little purse in her hand.'
After the tension of the morning and the hearty meal he'd just eaten, fatigue came over him. He decided to go home to Marinella and sleep for an hour. Just past the bridge, however, he couldn't resist He stopped, got out and rang the intercom. Nobody answered. Anna had probably gone out to see Mrs Di Blasi. Perhaps it was just as well.
At home, he phoned headquarters.
'I want Galluzzo here at five with the squad car,' he said.
He dialled Livia's number, and it rang and rang to no avail He dialled the number of her friend in Genoa.
'Montalbano here. Listen, I'm starting to get seriously worried. It's been days since--'
'Don't worry. Livia just phoned me a little while ago to let me know she was OK.' 'Where on earth is she?'
'I don't know. All I know is she called personnel and asked for another day off.'
He hung up and the phone rang. 'Inspector Montalbano?' 'Yes, who's this?'
'Guttadauro. My compliments, Inspector.'
Montalbano hung up, undressed, got into the shower, then came out and threw himself down, still naked, on the bed. He fell asleep immediately.
'Riing riiing! a faraway sound chimed in his head. He realized it was the doorbell He got up with effort, and went and opened the door. Seeing him naked, Galluzzo leaped backwards.
'What's the matter, Gallu? Think I'm going to drag you inside and make you do lewd things?'
'I've been ringing for the last half hour, Inspector. I was about to break down the door.'
'Do that and you'll have to pay for a new one. I'll be back in a second.'
The petrol-station attendant was a young man of about thirty with tight curls, dark, sparkling eyes and a solid, slender body. Though he was wearing overalls, the inspector could easily imagine him as a lifeguard on the beach at Rimini, playing havoc with the German girls.
'You say the lady was on her way from Montelusa, and it was eight o'clock.'
'Sure as death. I was closing up at the end of my shift. She rolled down her window and asked me if I could fill it up for her, "For you, I'll stay open all night if you want," I said. She got out of the car. Jesus, was she ever a beauty.'
'Do you remember how she was dressed?'
'All in denim.'
'Did she have any luggage?'
'She had a kind of large handbag on the back seat of the car.' 'Go on.'
'I finished filling up her tank, I told her how much she owed me, and she paid me with a one-hundred-thousand-lire bill, which she took from her purse. As I was giving her change -- I like to kid around with the ladies, you see -- I asked her, "Anything special I can do for you?" I sort of expected her to answer with an insult, but she just smiled and
said, "For the special things I've already got someone." And she continued on her way.'
'She didn't turn back towards Montelusa? Are you sure of that?'
'Absolutely certain. The poor thing, when I think of how she ended up!'
'OK. Thanks'
'Oh, one more thing, Inspector. She was in a hurry. After I filled up her tank, she drove off" really fast. See down there? It's all straight, I watched her car till she rounded the bend. She was really speeding'
'I'd planned to come home tomorrow' said Gillo Jacono, 'but as I got back today, I thought I'd check in with you right away'
A distinguished man in his thirties, with a pleasant face.
'Thanks for coming.'
'I wanted to tell you that with something like this, you think about it again and again.'
'Do you want to change the statement you made over the phone?'
'Absolutely not. Although, after playing the thing over and over in my head, I would like to add one detail But just to be safe, you probably ought to preface what I'm about to say with a very big "maybe"'
'Go ahead and talk.'
'Well, the man was carrying his suitcase without effort, in his left hand, and that's why I had the impression it wasn't very full Whereas with his right arm he was supporting the woman'
'Did he have his arm around her?'
'Not exactly. She was resting her hand on his arm. It seemed to me -- seemed. I repeat -- as if she was limping slightly.'
'Dr Pasquano? Montalbano here. Am I disturbing you?'
'I was making a Y-shaped incision in a corpse. I don't think he'll mind if I stop for a few minutes.'
'Did you notice any signs on Mrs Licalzi's body that might indicate that she fell sometime before her death?'
'I don't remember. Let me take a look at the report.'
He returned before the inspector could light his cigarette.
Yes. She'd fallen on one knee. But she was clothed at the time. In the abrasion on her left knee we found microscopic fibres from the jeans she was wearing.'
There was no need for further confirmation. At 8 p.m., Michela Licalzi fills her tank and heads inland. Three and a half hours later she's on her way back with a man. Sometime after midnight she's seen with a man again, certainly the same man, walking towards her house outside Vigata.
'Hi, Anna. Salvo here. I dropped by your place early this afternoon, but you weren't there.'
'Mr Di Blasi called and said his wife was unwell'
'I hope soon to have good news for them.'
Anna said nothing, and Montalbano realized he'd said something stupid The only news the Di Blastis might consider good was the resurrection of Maurizio.
'Anna, I wanted to tell you something I discovered about Michela.'
'Why don't you come over?'
No, he shouldn't. He realized that if Anna brought her lips to his another time, no good would come of it.
'I can't, Anna. I have an engagement.'
Good thing he was on the phone, because if he'd been right in front of her, she would have immediately realized he was lying.
'What did you want to tell me?'
'I have worked out, with a convincing degree of certainty, that at eight o'clock on Wednesday evening, Michela took the Enna--Palermo road. She may have been going to a town in the Montelusa province. Now, think hard before answering: as far as you know, did she have any other acquaintances in the area, aside from the people she knew in Montelusa and Vigata?'
The answer didn't come immediately. Anna was thinking about it, as the inspector had asked
'Look -- friends, I doubt it. She'd have told me. Acquaintances, on the other hand, yes, a few.'
'Where?'
'For example, in Aragona and Comitini, which are both along that road'
'What kind of acquaintances?'
'She bought her floor tiles in Aragona. And she got some other supplies that I can't remember now in Comitini.'
'Therefore only business dealings.'
'I'd say so. But, you see, Salvo, you can go just about anywhere from that road. There's a turn that goes to Raffadali, for one; the captain of the Flying Squad could have spun something out of that, too.'
'Another thing: sometime after midnight, she was seen in her drive, after getting out of her car. She was leaning on a man.'
'Are you sure?'
I'm sure.'
The pause this time was very long. So long that the inspector thought they'd been cut off. 'Are you still there, Anna?'
'Yes. Salvo, I want to repeat, clearly, once and for all, what I said before. Michela was not the kind of woman who went in for fly-by-night affairs. She confided to me that she was physically incapable of it. Will you understand that? She loved her husband. And she was very, very attached to Serravalle. She could not have consented, I don't care what the coroner thinks. She was horribly raped.'
'How do you explain that she didn't phone to let the Vassallos know she wouldn't be coming to dinner at their house? She had a mobile phone, didn't she?'
'I don't understand what you're getting at.'
'I'll explain. When Michela left you at seven thirty, saying she was going back to the hotel, she was telling you the absolute truth at that moment. But then something happened that made her change her mind. And it can only have been a call to her mobile, since when she was travelling up the Enna--Palermo road, she was still alone.'
'You think she was on her way to an appointment?'
'There's no other explanation. It was unexpected, but she didn't want to miss that appointment. That's why she didn't call the Vassallos. She had no plausible excuse that might justify her not coming, and so the best thing was to give them the slip. Let's set aside, if you want, the possibility of an amorous rendezvous; maybe it was a work-related appointment that somehow turned tragic. I'll grant you that for the moment. But in that case I ask you: what could have been of such importance as to make her behave so rudely towards the Vassallos?'
'I don't know,' Anna said dejectedly.
FIFTEEN
What could have been so important? the inspector asked himself again after saying goodbye to his friend. If not love or sex, which in Anna's opinion were out of the question, that left only money. During the construction of the house, Michela must have handled some money, and a fair amount at that. Might the key lie hidden there? The conjecture, however, immediately seemed to him without substance, a thread in a spider's web. But he was duty-bound to investigate all the same. 'Anna? Salvo again.'
'Did your engagement fall through? Can you come over?'
There was such happiness and eagerness in the girl's voice, the inspector didn't want a note of disappointment to spoil it.
'Well, I won't say I can't make it at all.'
'Come whenever you like.'
'OK, but there's something I wanted to ask you.
Do you know if Michela opened a bank account in Vigata?'
'Yes, it was more convenient for paying bills. It was with the Banca Popolare. But I don't know how much she had in it.'
It was too late to dash over to the bank. He opened a drawer in which he'd put all the papers he'd taken from the hotel room, and selected the dozens of bills and the little notebook of expenses. The diary and the rest of the papers he put back in the drawer. It was going to be a long, boring task, and 90 per cent certain to prove utterly useless. Besides, he was no good at numbers.
He carefully examined all the invoices. As far as he could tell at a glance, they did not appear inflated; the prices seemed to correspond to the market rates and were even occasionally a little lower. Apparently Michela knew how to bargain and save. No dice, therefore. A useless task, as he had expected. Then, by chance, he noticed a discrepancy between the amount on one bill and the round figure recorded in the notebook; the cost had been increased by five million lire. Could Michela, normally so well organized and precise, have possibly made so obvious a mistake? He started over from the top, with the patience of a saint. The end result he arriv
ed at was that the difference between the amounts registered in the notebook and the money actually spent was one hundred and fifteen million lire.
A mistake was therefore out of the question. But if there hadn't been a mistake, it made no sense, because it meant that Michela was taking a cut of her own money. Unless...
'Hello, Dr Licalzi? Inspector Montalbano here. Excuse me for calling you at home after work.'
IM4 The Voice of the Violin (2003) Page 15
