by April Smith
As you ascend, you are stunned to realize that you are passing through a vertical museum of Renaissance and prehistoric art. Inside the romantic tower is a secret, world-class private collection. Nicosa has created six stories of gallery space filled with artifacts, statuary, and paintings. There is one whole room of thirteenth-century Sienese Madonnas with gold-leaf haloes — all exactly alike, with the same swanlike faces and slanted eyes — and a steel vault that holds who knows what other priceless treasures.
When the elevator doors open at the top, you stumble into a circular space enclosed by twelve arched windows — three hundred and sixty degrees of mountains and sky. Looking out, you can see nothing in any direction but green fields, slanting olive groves, rustic stone houses, and cypress trees. Towns like balls of dust caught in the spires of distant hills.
Nicosa’s desk is a curving command center of burnished cherry-wood and chrome. There is a seating area of black leather couches, and, of course, a full kitchen, featuring a sleek top-of-the-line Nicosa Family espresso machine. With all those spouts and armatures, it looks like a robot from Mars, and probably costs as much as I make in a month. The refrigerator is stocked. Once you’re up here with the falcons, why leave?
“I can see why you’re not in the market for a new security system.”
“Now you understand.”
The coffee king sets down two small white cups, just as they should be, in their saucers, accompanied by a lemon twist. He is wearing jeans, sandals, and a short-sleeved sport shirt, but he hasn’t shaved. The room is tempered by constant breezes crisscrossing between the windows with the hot breath of baked clay and pine.
“There is something you need to know,” I tell him. “It may concern Cecilia.”
“What is it?”
He sits on a curved leather chair that is as thin as a corn chip. His dark eyes are rheumy and distrustful. I wonder if seeing me in Cecilia’s clothes is upsetting to him, but he doesn’t seem to notice.
“Yesterday I was near Monte San Stefano with my friend, Sterling. We went down a road and found the ruins of an old mill. He’s there now, guarding the site.”
“That’s a very old mill,” Nicosa says.
“You know it?”
He nods. “The original foundation goes back to the Etruscan era. I have a clay pot from there.”
“A man named Marcello Falassi has a place in the ruins. He’s a deliveryman for the Spectra Chemical Company. We saw his van. He confronted us, and he was aggressive, but we were able to leave without incident. While we were there, we found a vat filled with lye. In the lye there were fragments of bones, possibly human. The provincial police are on the way.”
“How do you know they were human? That’s often the way farmers dispose of dead animals.”
“It’s also how the mafias dispose of victims.”
Nicosa starts laughing.
“I didn’t want to believe it, either,” I add quickly. “And maybe it’s not Cecilia; it could be another one of the disappeared—”
“Of course it isn’t her!”
He stands up and his arms fly out in exasperation, and I think maybe he’ll turn into a raven and fly out the tower window.
“Why come here and give me a heart attack?”
“Because you’re her husband. You should know before the police get there.”
Nicosa blows air through his teeth like the steam from the coffee-maker.
“Be calm.”
“I am calm,” Nicosa says, clenching his fists.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Madonna! You will never understand Italy. They want my money. They take my wife because they want my money! They don’t want to kill her; they want to make an exchange. This country is sick. We are on the downturn and people are desperate. They take the money and give her back. Why? So they can kidnap her again! Because now they know you’ll pay. You don’t think it happens?”
Nicosa is on his feet, gesticulating against the sky, a grand performance — whether to convince himself or me, I can’t tell.
“I’m afraid they didn’t want Cecilia. I’m afraid they took the wrong person.”
“What wrong person?”
“Do Cecilia and I look alike?”
“There is a definite resemblance.”
“They wanted me, but they took Cecilia.”
“What is this?” Nicosa’s face squinches up with distaste. “They don’t want my wife? They want an American?”
I tell him about the attack in London. That I witnessed a mob reprisal shooting outside a restaurant in South Kensington, that the killers got away with my picture on their cell phone, and that the word went out to the terrorist networks. Someone in Siena thought he saw me, so they sent in their crack team of knuckleheads. Being knuckleheads from the south, they didn’t recognize the biggest socialite in the north, Cecilia Nicosa, but the woman in church looked enough like the blurry image on the cell phone that they snatched her instead.
Nicosa isn’t laughing now. He already sees the end of it. Or maybe my bleak expression worries him, because he folds back onto the leather chair and stares with mouth slack.
“But once they realize they have the wrong person — her instead of you — they’ll still want ransom,” he says weakly. “Why not? These people aren’t stupid.”
“Nicoli,” I say gently, “are you aware that your wife has been paying pizzo?”
“Why would she do that?”
“To keep her clinics open.”
“It doesn’t make sense. If she’s paying bribes, they would leave her alone.”
I wait. “But you know she’s been paying, don’t you?”
“It’s one of those things,” he says finally. “Like a love affair. You wonder. You suspect. Words do not need to be said because they won’t change the outcome.”
“She takes a terrible risk by dealing with a criminal network.”
“She is an independent woman. I can’t speak for her.”
“What about you? What is your involvement?”
“I pay pizzo, too.”
“Is that all?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Anything you can tell me will be in confidence. I’m only interested in getting Cecilia back.”
“I have nothing to tell you. The question is, will they still ask for ransom money?”
“It depends on their motivation. If they are out for money, yes. If it was their intention to kidnap an FBI agent, and they wound up with a do-gooding socialite … If they haven’t already, they may just kill her.”
My head is splitting. Vertigo from the sweeping view is getting to me, yet I can’t help glancing out the tower openings, the way you’re compelled to look at exactly what you do not want to see. The highway accident. The dead mouse in the shower.
He sees me looking unhappily out the window. “What is it?”
“The police.”
Far away in the storybook countryside a white car with official markings can be seen gathering steam as it navigates the curving road leading up to the abbey.
“Why are they coming here?”
“They must have already been to the crime scene. I told the FBI legat in Rome about the remains. It was his obligation to inform the Italian police.”
Nicosa stares wordlessly at the approaching unit.
“Do you want me to bring them up here?”
He snaps out of it. “Absolutely not!”
We take the elevator down.
When the police car slips into the courtyard of the abbey, Nicosa and I are already waiting on the front steps, side by side. I am dry-eyed but can’t help fearing we are now into a murder investigation. Cecilia’s skirt flutters around my knees. If Nicosa finds it at all painful to discover his wife’s sister in her place beside him, he gives no sign. He has his game face on.
The driver gets out and opens the back door. The Commissario emerges. I had not expected he would show up himself, and from the curses streaming under Nicosa’s breath, ne
ither had he.
The chief of police draws his elongated body out of the car and squares off against the opposition. He is wearing a funereal black suit and tie, putting Nicosa at a disadvantage, unshaven and in jeans. On the other hand, this is Nicosa’s territory; his castle. The Commissario slips on sunglasses with a self-conscious flourish, peering around at the ruins of the thirteenth-century church and the stone façade of the family quarters. I find myself on Nicosa’s side, hoping the grandeur of the abbey reminds the Commissario that he is nothing but a public servant; a commoner.
He comes toward us with that uneven stride. The two shake hands and greet each other formally. The meeting takes place at the wooden table beneath the loggia where I first saw Nicosa the day I arrived. I remember my nerves being on edge in anticipation of meeting Cecilia, and her husband’s cool, impeccable sexuality. Now she has vanished, and he looks like a guilty man on the run; sleepless and defensive. The two men take wicker chairs. The accompanying officer waits by the car. I am dispatched to fetch water.
When I return with a bottle and glasses, the conversation is about Il Palio — polite enough, since both Torre and Oca were among the losers. By now I have picked up enough Italian to understand they agree that the judges were suckers of dicks. But when they turn to the business at hand, I request that they continue in English.
The Commissario looks at me with flat brown eyes.
“Your representative from the FBI, Signore Rizzio, was kind enough to call my office and share information about the discovery of remains near Monte San Stefano. We appreciate the cooperation of the Americans.”
“Have you recovered the evidence?” I ask.
“Our team has just arrived.”
“Are they human remains?”
“It’s possible, but we won’t know for certain until the lab report.”
“Do we know how many bodies might have been dumped?”
“We will inform your office in Rome as soon as we have results.”
“Thank you. As Inspector Martini explained, I am extremely concerned about my sister.”
“I gave you my word that her case has the highest priority, which is one of the reasons I am here.”
The Commissario turns to Nicosa. His moves are unhurried, forcing us to wait for his consideration. I can’t believe Nicosa knows about Cecilia’s affair with this charming operator. If so, there is no way he could remain civil.
“I am sorry that we need to discuss this,” the Commissario says.
“Why? It is a gruesome thing, but it does not concern me.”
“We believe otherwise.”
“Really?”
“Perhaps. Would Signorina Grey mind describing the man who attacked her and her companion in the woods?”
“His name is Marcello Falassi, and he drives a van for the Spectra Chemical Company.”
“A physical description, please?”
“Mid-forties, overweight, black hair, sloppy—”
The Commissario looks puzzled. “Sciatto,” Nicosa translates.
“Low intelligence, probably psychopathic, lives with his wife and mother but his only attachment seems to be to a dog. A loyal soldier.”
The Commissario nods. “We have been looking for this man. He is known as the Chef, Il Capocuòco, a notorious criminal hired by the mafias to dispose of their victims. Congratulations, Signorina Grey. You have made an important discovery that will lead to many convictions.” He addresses Nicosa. “Is this someone you know?”
“No, I don’t know him.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Why? Are you saying this thug took Cecilia?”
“I am curious, because Falassi is also the local distributor for Spectra, the manufacturer of fertilizer and industrial chemicals, which services most customers in the province, including you.”
“For what?”
The Commissario swallows water and takes his time.
“Landscaping? Gardening? Processing coffee? Do you or your company buy chemicals from Spectra?”
“I don’t know. I’d have to ask my production manager.”
“Let me save you the trouble. We have already checked. The Nicosa Family company has an account with Spectra on average of two to three hundred euros per month.”
“All right, then I guess we do.”
“But you don’t know? That is a significant amount of money.”
“Not for us. I don’t keep track of every supplier.”
“And you’ve never met this man, Falassi?”
Nicosa rubs his temples. The darkness beneath his eyes grows deeper.
“What are you telling me? This driver comes here and sees my wife? Is he some maniac who is obsessed with women?”
The Commissario folds his hands. He wears a gold ring made from a Roman coin.
“How has your marriage been recently?”
“Fine.”
“Have you and your wife been fighting?”
“Why is that your business?”
The Commissario answers Nicosa with blank button eyes:
“Did you kill her?”
Nicosa returns the look with equanimity. “You are crazy.”
“Did you get Falassi to dispose of the body? In the acid bath in the woods?”
Inch by inch, Nicosa’s face goes scarlet.
I touch his wrist. “He’s trying to provoke you.”
He’s trying to bury you.
Like any good cop, the Commissario waits patiently. For a moment, they stare each other down.
Nicosa breaks free of my touch and waves the chief off.
“Talk to my lawyers.”
The Commissario gets up from the table. Ignoring his host, he turns to me.
“It is a pleasure, signorina.” He shakes my hand with cold, bony fingers. “Call my office anytime.”
Taking long halting steps, he walks toward the car. The driver comes to attention and opens the door.
Donnato asks if there is a common denominator.
I am speaking to him in Los Angeles from my hideout in the far corner of the pool. Pine boughs sway above me, while he’s looking out at a view of the bland cityscape that might as well be a painted backdrop; it never moves, never changes, only smolders.
“Common denominator between what?”
“Just doodling,” he says. “Staring at the old yellow pad.”
“What does the yellow pad say?”
“It says coffee — vat — sister. I’ve been thinking about what you’re telling me. The vat of lye. Human remains. We’re looking for your sister. She could be in there. She could not. It could be someone else they murdered. The Commissario makes a visit. Lays down the gauntlet to the coffee king. Nicosa is behaving — how?”
“Angry. Evasive.”
“Evasive,” echoes Donnato. I imagine him nodding, tasseled loafers up on the desk, toes ticking back and forth. “We ask, what is Nicosa hiding? Where is the mafia drug connection Rizzio keeps talking about?”
“I don’t know, but the Commissario is trying to connect him to the chemical company that makes sodium hydroxide. It’s called Spectra.”
“Is lye used in manufacturing coffee?”
“Nicosa says no. But he does buy other stuff from Spectra.”
“Is this Mr. Commissario actually trying to make the case that Nicosa adds sodium hydroxide to his regular order, and keeps it in the middle of a forest, on the off chance he might need it to get rid of his wife?”
“They’re blood enemies. The Commissario is looking to destroy him. But Nicosa did know about the crime scene. He knows more than he’s letting on,” I say, feeling a flicker of excitement. “He knew it was the site of an ancient Etruscan mill.”
“Twenty-five years in the FBI tells me your sister’s disappearance has nothing to do with some ancient-ass old mill,” Donnato says. “We have to take this in another direction.”
“Where?”
“Follow the trail of the lye.”
I can’t bring myself to admit
to him that’s what Sterling said from the beginning.
THE SOUTH — LA FAMIGLIA
TWENTY-EIGHT
Zabrina Tursi did the math. They had to get to Calabria before dark. The word was out; people would already be showing up. They had to leave right now.
Her current boyfriend, Yuri Kosta, was in the shower. There was no tub in the bathroom, just a showerhead and a drain. The tiny curtain was useless. The tile floor would flood, but nobody used the sponge mop Zabrina had stolen from the janitor to push the dirty water into the drain. She had obsessed about confronting her two roommates, but in the end she just gave up. The place smelled like a sewer. The toilet and sink were always damp with mildew. If you left something in there, like a towel, it would never dry. That’s why they had clothes racks on the balcony, next to the rosemary plants, which were a gift from someone’s deluded parents.
It was a nice building in a calm neighborhood outside the walls, as Sterling and I had discovered that blazing day when we attempted to find her, so nice that you had to be buzzed in. It rented monthly, mostly to students at the Università di Siena, but also to musicians who came for the jazz festival and even a few professors. It was a middle-class paradise. They had two bedrooms and only one other roommate, a thirty-two-year-old American named Simon Lawrence, who came from a wealthy family in Chicago and claimed to be studying to become the conductor of a symphony orchestra. He would walk around singing scores. Instead of a newspaper, he read music, and he was good on the guitar. They were all addicts. The place was dirty and the furniture dilapidated, but you would not have guessed it was a shooting gallery, where partygoers and white-collar professionals showed up for ten-euro hits, unless you caught sight, in the one-couch living room, of the odd metal cap containing remnants of blood, cocaine, and heroin.
The kitchen, though, was always tidy. If they got it together to prepare a meal, it would be the traditional pasta, secondi, and dessert, even though someone had to wash their meager collection of melamine dishes between each course, and they’d be crawling over each other in the hot, narrow space. The pale green tile wall was decorated with a calendar of naked women. Simon would tune the television on top of the refrigerator to the BBC. The sliding door to the balcony was an invitation to step outside and enjoy a smoke. The kitchen was the only sane room in the house.
