“It’s like something went off, but I’m worried for my neighbours, maybe something could have happened to them.”
“Can you give me the address, please?”
“Via dei Papi 27, third floor.”
“Where?”
“In Albano.”
“Ok, someone will come and check, but you didn’t tell me your name, Sir...”
When the agent asked the question, the call had already been interrupted.
The operator immediately informed the nearest police station. After a few moment they received some information from the policemen which had been sent to the building.
“Hello, have you got some news?”
“Aglieri’s on the phone, we have just been on the third floor of the building in Via dei Papi. There are three flats, we spoke with the residents of the first two flats and everything is ok. In the third flat, on the contrary, nobody answers. We could call the owners by phone if...”
“Ok, tell me the name.”
“Vercesi, Giacomo and Anselmo Vercesi.”
“I found the number, can you note it down?”
Agent Aglieri phoned several times but nobody answered, neither at the mobile phones, nor at the telephone present into the house.
The last thing the agent could do was asking the permission and break down the door in order to personally check what had happened. The superior agreed by phone so, together with his colleague, Agent Aglieri got into the flat, without damaging too much the door. Once inside, the two policemen made a gruesome discovery.
The bodies of two men, about forty years old, probably Vercesi’s brothers, laid on their back on the floor of the living room; a shot fired from a short distance had killed them.
The area filled with policemen and onlookers as soon as the news spread in the district. Hidden among the crowd there was also Inspector Di Girolamo, who had rushed as soon as he had been informed of the event.
He tried in vain to contact Germano a couple of times but then gave up the idea, at least for the moment, and headed for the group of policemen who stood in front of the entrance of the building. He could get only some brief information, the forensic department was still at work and the technicians were the only ones who could provide further details.
The news of the double murder was immediately reported also in the television news and in the local networks. The Commissioner learned about the event exactly from one of these networks.
After having carefully heard the journalist’s words, he headed for the phone and called his office.
“Hello, here’s the Police Station.”
“Germano’s on the phone, is Parisi there?”
“Good evening, Commissioner. Just a moment, I call him.”
The Inspector reached the phone in a few moments.
“Vincent, I was just...”
“I knew it from the TV and...”
“Do you want me to fetch you?”
“No, please wait. Before I’d like you to check something.”
“Tell me.”
“Go to the PC.”
“Wait a moment, then, I must go to my office.”
The phone call was transferred so the two policemen could resume their conversation.
“Here I am, Vincent.”
“Check among the crimes of the last six months. There is something referable to the word ‘Aries’?”
“Wait a moment, please.”
“Ok”
“Let’s see... there’s a previous offender with that name arrested for fraud and...”
“No, no... look for something more important, more serious crimes.”
“Ok ... ”
After a few moments the Inspector spoke again.
“I think I found something... it’s a murder, Vincent”.
“Tell me the details, please.”
“About a month ago a woman, about forty-five years old, was shot in her shop, a jeweller’s called Aries.”
“Is there the name of the killer?”
“Unfortunately not, but the investigation is up to the Arm of Carabinieri[1].”
“Where is the jeweller’s?”
“In Monteporzio.”
“I’d like to speak with the person in charge of the investigation.”
“But Vincent.... What are you thinking of?”
“Don’t worry, it’s only a suggestion of mine I’d like to immediately exclude. In the meantime please go to Albano, where the twins were killed, and call me when you come back.”
“Ok, Vincent, but how do you know they were twins?”
“I heard it from the TV, Angelo.”
“Hello, Carabinieri.”
“Good evening, I’m the Commissioner Germano, I’d like to speak to the person in charge of the investigation about the murder in the jeweller’s called Aries.”
“It’s Captain Colombo, wait a moment please, I put you through.”
“Yes, please.”
The captain answered immediately.
“Good evening, Colombo’s on the phone.”
“Good evening, I’m....”
“Yes, I know. Please tell me...”
“Actually it’s only an attempt to eliminate a possible track, Captain... I’m investigating the murder of a fence of stolen cars, I’d like to compare the cartridge cases with the ones of the murder in the jeweller’s, if you have any.”
“Yes, we have. They are cases of a Beretta 7.65.”
“The gun is the same... but it’s a very common weapon... may I let you have our exhibits for a comparison, Captain?”
“Of course, Germano.”
“One last question, have you already a probable track on which you are working?”
“To be completely honest no, we sifted some tracks but everything seems inexplicable.”
“I see. I’ll call you when the comparison will be done, ok?”
“Ok, Commissioner.”
“Thanks and good evening, Captain.”
“To you too.”
After having hung up, the Commissioner quickly dressed and then rushed with his car to the place where the double murder had happened.
It was not so easy to reach it, because the building was in a minor and dark road, which had already been cordoned off; to cross it Germano had to show several times his identity card to the officers which prevented the access to all cars which didn’t belong to the Police or Carabinieri Departments.
When he finally reached the entrance door, he saw Parisi and came up to him.
“I didn’t think you would have come, Vincent.”
“Here I am, instead... what about going into?”
“Let’s go.”
The two policemen went up the stairs until they reached the third floor of the building, but they had to stop in front of the door because the technicians were still at work and nobody could enter, so Germano and Parisi gave a look around. The Commissioner spoke first.
“What did you know, Angelo?”
“I spoke with the agents who intervened first, they told me....”
“Why did they intervene?”
“Someone called the emergency number and the police station sent them to check. So they discovered everything.”
“Did they force open the door?”
“Yes.”
“Do you know if it was locked or not?”
“I didn’t ask, but I’ll let you know, Vincent.”
“Ok.”
Germano, leaned on the outer wall, waiting he could enter the flat, was approached by an old lady wearing a nightdress, who had come out from the opposite flat.
“Are you a policeman?”
“Yes, I am”, the Commissioner said.
“Do you know what happened?”
“A double murder, unfortunately...”
“I knew it would have happened.”
“What do you mean, Madam?”
“I mean that those people always come to a bad end.”
“Excuse me, can I ask you a question?”
“Please, tell me.”
“On the upper floor there are two flats but none came down up to now. Do you know who lives there?”
“They are not flats, they were attics but then they have been changed into utility rooms. None will ever come out from there.”
“I see... so in your opinion these twins were people not to hand around with?” told Germano.
“Yes, but it’s only a supposition of mine, take care...”
“A supposition? To what is it due?”
“Rumours, only rumours.”
“I see...”
Germano understood that the old lady had clammed up, so he didn’t lose further time and left with an excuse. Then he headed for the last floor, together with Inspector Parisi.
They stood some moments in front of the doors, then, after a quick but careful glance, the Inspector spoke again.
“More than utility rooms, they seem tombs, Vincent.”
“Why do you think so?”
“There’s a lot of dust, probably nobody has entered for at least three years.”
“This door is covered with dust, too. Let’s go down.”
“Ok, what did you think instead?”
“I don’t know. I was only curious to see if someone used to hide something here but, as you said, nobody has entered for a long time.”
“Someone like the twins?”
Germano got down with a little smile addressed to Parisi.
The two policemen waited almost half an hour before they could get into the flat where the twins had been killed. Germano immediately headed for Silvestri.
“Good evening, Doctor.”
“Good evening, Commissioner.”
“Do you already know which was the weapon used?”
“We only have some cases... 7.65, a Beretta, maybe. Tomorrow I’ll give you further details.”
“Thank you. Can I have a look around?”
“Yes, of course, we finished here.”
Germano walked into the flat for about a quarter of an hour. Then he beckoned Parisi to leave.
Once outside, the two policemen spoke for a while with the agents who had burst into the place, but the conversation didn’t add anything new or useful for Germano, so the Commissioner said them goodbye and headed for his car.
Then he gave Parisi the last directions.
“We will see us tomorrow morning at the police station, Angelo, but I must ask you a last favour, before you go.”
“Tell me, Vincent.”
“Go to the operational room and ask them to give you the registration of the phone call to the emergency number, the one which brought our colleagues here.”
“Ok, something more?”
“No, thank you, Angelo. See you Tomorrow.”
“See you Tomorrow.”
24th December
The first who arrived at the police station, in that cold December morning, was Germano, who was going to pass the Christmas eve, such as in the previous years, hoping not to be obliged to work late.
In some districts nearby snowflakes had begun to fall down already in the night, the weather forecasts for that day weren’t good at all.
Still tight in his long blue coat, Germano had the second coffee of the day, then he threw the glass into the basket and headed for the exit to smoke a cigarette, but he had just lighted it when Parisi appeared.
“You arrived early too, Angelo, isn’t it?”
“Yes ... I see you already had a coffee...”
“I couldn’t stand the cold.... By the way, come on in.”
Once the two policemen got into the police station, the Commissioner took an envelope from the drawer.
“What is it, Vincent?”
“I think I already told you that some days ago we received an anonymous letter.”
“The one with generic information?”
“Exactly, I want to send it to the handwriting experts, I’d like a careful test.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know yet, I don’t have any idea of who can have sent it, so I’d like to clear my head.”
“I see... before I forget, here is the recording you asked last night.”
“Well, let’s start listening.”
Parisi placed the reader on the table and asked Germano to wear the headset to listen to the audio track.
“Hello, here’s the Police Station”
“Good evening, I’m calling because from the flat under my own arrives a strange smell.”
“Could you be more precise, please?”
“It’s like something went off, but I’m worried for my neighbours, maybe something could have happened to them.”
“Can you give me the address, please?”
“Via dei Papi 27, third floor.”
“Where?”
“In Albano.”
“Ok, someone will come and check, but you didn’t tell me your name, Sir...”
Inspector Parisi was taking his headset off when Germano spoke.
“Angelo, please go immediately upstairs and discover the place from where this phone call was made. You must...”
“Why all this hurry?”
“Did you listen carefully? The guy speaks of the flat downstairs, so he probably called from the upper floor... but there are no upper floors in the twins’ house, do you remember?”
“It’s true... there are only those useless utility rooms...”
“Discover immediately all you can about the phone call, even if I’m afraid there’s nothing to discover, he’s too clever.”
“Are you speaking of him?”
“Yes, that guy killed the twins, then called the emergency number.”
“Is he crazy?”
“Probably, the problem is that he’s also very clever... now please go and come back when you have some news.”
“Ok, don’t worry.”
The Commissioner wondered what this first discovery could mean, the outline that was taking shape in his mind wasn’t uplifting at all.
He stood up to have a quick look out of the window, then sat down again and began making some phone calls.
The first one was addressed to one of the agents who had got into the flat the previous night. The Commissioner asked him about the unpleasant smell on the stairs, of which the man on the phone had spoken. The agent answered that he smelt a lavender scent, both while he went up the stairs and in front of the door.
The phone call was very short and, thanks to the excellent sense of smell of the agent, even the last doubt of the Commissioner unravelled.
The second phone call was directed to the office for handwriting analysis, to whom Germano had already sent the envelope. So he thought it was useful to communicate them its forthcoming arrival and verbally explain the details.
He had already dialled more than a half of the number of the last person he had to call that morning, when someone knocked at the door.
“Come in, please.”
“Excuse me, Commissioner....”
“Don’t worry, Fiorini, tell me.”
“An envelope for you has just arrived...”
Germano took it and, having a look at the handwriting immediately understood who had sent it.
“Thank you.”
“Not at all.”
He opened it with great care, this time, and after about a minute he could read it.
“Take care, check hospitals where cancer is treated.”
Germano took a plastic envelope and put the letter inside, then dialled Parisi’s number.
“Parisi...”
“Angelo, it’s me. You should....”
“I was about to call you, Vincent, about that phone call... I know...”
“Please come here.”
“Immediately.”
Sitting in front of the inspector, the Commissioner resumed the conversation he had sharply interrupted some minutes before.
“They wrote me again...”
“What do they say this time?”
“That we should look into the hospitals, more precisely the ones in which cancer is treated.”
“Cancer...?”
“Yes, and cancer is the fourth sign of the zodiac.”
“Of course! After Aries, Taurus and Gemini[2]... are you sure of this possibility, Vincent?”
“For now it seems the only plausible one, I felt it yesterday while I listened to the news on TV; we must try to discover what the victims had in common, so please crosscheck every consumption they had, including Mrs. Marzia Basci, the jeweller who was killed a month ago.”
“Ok.”
“I will try to speak again with the captain in charge of the investigations on Mrs. Basci. This morning he should have received one of the cases we found in Meluzza’s garage and, in case the ballistic test should confirm what I’m thinking of, we will have to work together with them.”
“Ok, what about the new supposition?”
“Do you mean cancer?”
“Yes.”
“I cannot put under surveillance every corner of the hospitals of the town, so we must try to reach the target before him. The problem is that in order to do this, we should understand how he chooses his victims.”
“So...”
Angelo Parisi’s voice interrupted when Germano’s phone began to ring.
“Germano’s on the phone.”
“Good morning, Commissioner. I’m Colombo.”
“Hello.”
“This morning I hurried the technicians to have an answer and...”
“And...”
“You were right, the gun that fired is the same.”
“Ok, captain... I will reach you in your office as soon as I finish here.”
“I’ll be here, Germano, come when you wish but be careful because in this area it’s already snowing.”
“I will hurry up, see you later.”
“See you soon, Commissioner.”
As soon as he hung up, Germano immediately informed Parisi about the last call.
“How should we act?”
“Listen, Angelo, I go to Monte Porzio at the captain’s office, in the meantime start crosschecking and send this envelope to the forensic department.”
“Don’t you want to send this one too for the handwriting test?”
“Later, first of all I want the forensic department to analyse it. Please call Doctor Silvestri and expound everything to him. As to the other letter, on the contrary, the results could arrive today. In case they should call you, ask them to send us a detailed report and to call me on the mobile, ok?”
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