The Patience of the Spider

by Andrea Camilleri

  At this point the father started to get worried. He’d tried reaching his daughter several times on her cell phone, but every time the phone was turned off. At a certain point the home phone rang, and the father rushed to pick up, thinking it was Susanna. But it was the brother.

  “Susanna has a brother?”

  “No, she’s an only child.”

  “So, whose brother was it?” Montalbano asked in exasperation. Between Gallo’s speeding and the pothole-riven road they were traveling on, his head was not only numb, but the wound in his shoulder was throbbing.

  The brother in question was the brother of the father of the kidnapped girl.

  “Don’t any of these people have names?” asked the inspector, losing patience, hoping that knowing their names might help him follow the story a little better.

  “Of course they do, why wouldn’t they? It’s just that nobody told me what they are,” said Gallo. He went on: “Anyway, the kidnapped girl’s father’s brother, who’s a doctor—”

  “Just call him the doctor uncle,” Montalbano suggested.

  The doctor uncle had called to find out how his sister-in-law was doing. That is, the kidnapped girl’s mother.

  “Why? Is she sick?”

  “Yessir, Chief. Very sick.”

  And so the father told the doctor uncle—

  “No, in this case you should say his brother.”

  Anyway, the father told his brother that Susanna had disappeared and asked him to come to the house to lend a hand with his sick wife, to free him up so he could look for his daughter. But the doctor had to take care of some obligations first, and it was already past eleven when he arrived.

  The father then got in his car and very slowly retraced the route that Susanna normally took to go home. At that hour in winter there wasn’t a soul to be seen anywhere, and very few cars. He went back and forth along the same route a second time, feeling more and more bereft of hope. At a certain point a motorbike pulled up beside him. It was Susanna’s boyfriend, who had phoned the villa and was told by the doctor uncle that there still was no news. The kid told the father that he planned to scour every street in Vigàta, to see if he could at least find Susanna’s motorbike, which he knew well. The father retraced Susanna’s route from her friend’s house to his own home four more times, occasionally stopping to examine even the spots on the pavement. But he seemed not to notice anything unusual. By the time he gave up and went home, it was almost three o’clock in the morning. At this point he suggested that his doctor brother phone all the hospitals in Vigàta and Montelusa, telling them who he was. But they all answered in the negative, which on the one hand set their minds at rest, but on the other alarmed them even further. Thus they wasted another hour.

  At this point in the story—they’d been driving in the open countryside for a while and were now on a dirt road—Gallo pointed to a house about fifty yards ahead.

  “That’s the villa.”

  Montalbano didn’t have time to look at it, however, because Gallo suddenly turned right, onto another dirt road, this one in pretty bad shape.

  “Where are we going?”

  “To where they found the motorbike.”

  It was Susanna’s boyfriend who had found it. After searching in vain up and down the streets of Vigàta, he’d taken a much longer route back to the villa. And there, about two hundred yards from Susanna’s house, he’d spotted the abandoned moped and run to tell the father.

  Gallo pulled up, stopping behind the other squad car. When Montalbano got out, Mimì Augello came up to him.

  “I don’t like the smell of this, Salvo. That’s why I had to bother you. But things don’t look good.”

  “Where’s Fazio?”

  “Inside the house, with the girl’s father. In case the kidnappers call.”

  “Mind telling me the father’s name?”

  “Salvatore Mistretta.”

  “What’s he do?”

  “Used to be a geologist. He’s been halfway across the world. Here’s the motorbike.”

  It was leaning against a low dry-wall outside a vegetable garden. The bike was in perfect condition, no scratches or scrapes, just a little dusty. Galluzzo was in the garden, seeing if he could find anything of interest. Imbrò and Battiato were doing the same along the dirt road.

  “Susanna’s boyfriend…what’s his name?”

  “Francesco Lipari.”

  “Where is he?”

  “I sent him home. He was exhausted and worried to death.”

  “I was thinking. You don’t think maybe it was Lipari himself who moved the motorbike? Maybe he found it on the ground, in the middle of the road—”

  “No, Salvo. He swore up and down that he found it exactly the way you see it there.”

  “Post a guard next to it. And don’t let anybody touch it, or forensics will go ballistic. Have you found anything?”

  “Not a thing. And to think the girl had a small knapsack with her books and things, a cell phone, a wallet she always kept in the back pocket of her jeans, the housekeys…But nothing. It’s as if she ran into somebody she knew and propped the motorbike against the wall so she could talk to him.”

  Montalbano seemed not to be listening, and Mimì noticed.

  “What is it, Salvo?”

  “I don’t know, but something doesn’t look right to me,” Montalbano muttered.

  And he started taking a few steps backward, as one does to get a better look at something, to take it all in from the right angle. Augello also stepped back, but only mechanically, because the inspector had done so.

  “It’s backwards,” Montalbano concluded a moment later.

  “What is?”

  “The motorbike. Look at it, Mimì. The way we see it right now, at a standstill, we should think it was going to Vigàta.”

  Mimì looked, then shook his head.

  “That’s true. But on that side of the road, it would be going the wrong way. If it was going in the direction of Vigàta, it should be on the other side, leaning against the wall opposite.”

  “As if a moped cared if it was going the wrong way! Hell, you find those things on the landing outside your apartment! They’ll drive right through your legs if they can! Forget about it. But if the girl was coming from Vigàta, the front wheel of the motorbike should be pointed in the opposite direction. So my question is: Why is the bike positioned the way it is?”

  “Jesus, Salvo, there could be a lot of reasons for that. Maybe she turned the bike around to prop it up a little better against the wall…Or maybe she herself turned around after she saw someone she recognized…”

  “Anything is possible,” Montalbano cut him off. “I’m going over to the house. Come and join me after you’ve finished searching here. And don’t forget to post a guard.”

  The villa was a two-storey building and must have once been rather beautiful. Now, however, it showed signs of neglect. And when one loses interest in a house, it can tell, and it seems to plunge into a kind of premature old age. The sturdy wrought-iron gate was ajar.

  The inspector entered a large living room furnished with dark, massive nineteenth-century antiques, but at first glance it looked like a museum, as it was full of small Pre-Columbian statues and African masks. Travel souvenirs of the geologist, Salvatore Mistretta. In one corner of the room there were two armchairs, a small table with a telephone on top, and a television. Fazio and a man who must have been Mistretta were sitting in the armchairs, eyes glued to the television screen. When Montalbano entered, the man gave Fazio a questioning look.

  “This is Inspector Montalbano. And this is Signor Mistretta.”

  The man came forward with his hand extended. Montalbano shook it without speaking. The geologist was a thin man of about sixty, with a face as baked as one of those South American statuettes, stooped shoulders, a mop of white hair, and a pair of blue eyes that wandered around the room like a drug addict’s. Apparently the tension was eating away at him.

  “No news?” asked M
ontalbano.

  The geologist threw his hands up disconsolately.

  “I’d like to have a word with you,” the inspector went on. “Could we go outside?”

  For no apparent reason he felt like he couldn’t breathe. It was stuffy in the living room, and not a ray of light filtered in, despite two big French doors. Mistretta hesitated, then turned to Fazio.

  “If somebody rings the bell upstairs, could you please let me know?”

  “Of course,” said Fazio.

  They went out. The garden surrounding the villa was in a state of utter abandon, now little more than a field of wild, yellowing plants.

  “This way,” said the geologist.

  He led the inspector to a hemicycle of wooden benches at the center of a kind of orderly, well-tended oasis of green.

  “This is where Susanna comes to stu—”

  Unable to continue, he collapsed onto a bench. The inspector sat down beside him and pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

  “Do you smoke?”

  What had Dr. Strazzera advised him to do? “Try to stop smoking, if possible.”

  At the moment, it was not possible.

  “I’d stopped, but in these circumstances…” said Mistretta.

  You see, dear distinguished Dr. Strazzera? Sometimes one simply cannot do without it.

  The inspector held out a cigarette for him and then lit it. They smoked awhile in silence, then Montalbano asked:

  “Is your wife sick?”

  “She’s dying.”

  “Does she know what’s happened?”

  “No. She’s on tranquilizers and sedatives. My brother Carlo, who’s a doctor, spent last night with her. He just left, in fact. But…”

  “But?”

  “But my wife, even in this induced state of sleep, keeps calling for Susanna, as if she mysteriously understands that something…”

  The inspector felt himself sweating. How was he ever going to talk to the man about his daughter’s kidnapping when his wife was dying? The only way, perhaps, was to adopt an official, bureaucratic tone, the kind of tone that precludes, by its very nature, any form of humanity.

  “Mr. Mistretta, I have to inform those in charge about the kidnapping. The judge, the commissioner, my colleagues in Montelusa…And you can rest assured that the news will also reach the ears of some newsman who will race here with the inevitable camera crew…The reason I’m stalling is that I want to be absolutely certain.”

  “Certain of what?”

  “That it’s really a kidnapping we’re dealing with.”

  3

  The geologist gave him a puzzled look.

  “What else could it be?”

  “Let me first say that I have no choice but to make conjectures, however unpleasant.”

  “I understand.”

  “One question. Does your wife need a lot of care?”

  “Nonstop, day and night.”

  “Who looks after her?”

  “Susanna and I take turns.”

  “How long has she been in this condition?”

  “Things got worse about six months ago.”

  “Is it possible that after being frayed for so long, Susanna’s nerves finally gave out?”

  “What are you trying to say?”

  “Isn’t it possible that, seeing her mother always in that state, your daughter got so worn out from all the sleepless nights and study that she ran away of her own free will from what had become an unbearable situation?”

  The reply didn’t come immediately.

  “That’s out of the question. Susanna is strong and generous. She would never do that to me. Never. And anyway, where would she hide?”

  “Did she have any money on her?”

  “I dunno, maybe thirty euros, at the most.”

  “Doesn’t she have any relatives or friends she’s particularly fond of?”

  “There’s only my brother, whom she would go visit at his house, but not very often. And she would meet with that boy who helped me in my search. They’d often go to the movies together or out for pizza. But there’s nobody else she was close to.”

  “What about the girl she was studying with?”

  “She’s just a study companion, I think.”

  Now they came to the difficult part, and the inspector had to be careful not to further offend this wounded man with his questions. He took a deep breath. The morning air was, in spite of everything, sweet and fragrant.

  “Listen, your daughter’s boyfriend…what’s his name?”

  “Francesco. Francesco Lipari.”

  “Did Susan get along well with Francesco?”

  “As far as I could tell, yes, basically.”

  “What do you mean by ‘basically’?”

  “I mean that, sometimes, I would hear her arguing with him over the telephone…But just silly stuff, the kind of things young lovers quarrel about.”

  “You don’t think that Susanna perhaps met someone who secretly lured her, persuading her to—”

  “—To go with him, you mean? Inspector, Susanna has always been a sincere, forthright girl. If she’d started up a relationship with someone else, she would certainly have told Francesco and broken off with him.”

  “So you’re sure we’re dealing with a kidnapping.”

  “Unfortunately, yes.”

  Fazio suddenly appeared in the doorway of the villa.

  “What is it?” asked the geologist.

  “I heard the bell ring upstairs.”

  Mistretta rushed inside. Montalbano followed slowly behind him, lost in thought. He went back into the living room and sat down in the empty armchair in front of the telephone.

  “Poor guy,” said Fazio. “I feel sorry for this Mistretta, I really do.”

  “Doesn’t it seem strange to you that the kidnappers haven’t called yet? It’s almost ten o’clock.”

  “I don’t know much about kidnappings,” said Fazio.

  “Me neither. And Mimì doesn’t either.”

  Speak of the devil. At that very moment Mimì Augello walked in.

  “We didn’t find anything. What do we do now?”

  “Inform everyone we’re supposed to inform about the kidnapping. Give me Susanna’s boyfriend’s address, and the address of the girl she was studying with.”

  “What are you going to do?” asked Mimì as he was writing these things down on a piece of paper.

  “As soon as he returns, I’m going to say goodbye to Mr. Mistretta and go to the office.”

  “But aren’t you convalescing?” asked Mimì. “I only had you come here to give advice, not to—”

  “And do you feel confident leaving the station in Catarella’s hands?”

  There was no answer, only a troubled silence.

  “If the kidnappers get in touch soon, as I’m hoping they’ll do, let me know at once,” the inspector said in a decisive tone.

  “Why are you hoping the kidnappers get in touch soon?” asked Fazio.

  Before answering, the inspector read the piece of paper Augello had handed to him, then put it in his pocket.

  “Because that way we’ll know that they kidnapped her for money. Let’s be frank. A girl like Susanna gets kidnapped for one of two reasons: for money or for rape. Gallo told me she’s a very attractive girl. In the latter case, the chances she’d be killed after being raped are very high.”

  A chill. In the silence they could hear the geologist’s shuffling footsteps as he approached. He looked at Augello.

  “Did you find any…?”

  Mimì shook his head.

  Mistretta staggered as though dizzy, but Mimì quickly steadied him.

  “But why did they do it? Why?!” he said, burying his face in his hands.

  “Why?” said Augello, hoping to console him with words. “You’ll see, they’ll probably demand a ransom, the judge very probably will allow you to pay, and—”

  “What will I pay with? How can I pay?” the man cried in desperation. “Doesn’t everyone know
that we get by on my pension? And that the only thing we own is this house?”

  Montalbano was standing near Fazio. He heard him whisper under his breath:

  “Matre santa! So…”

  He had Gallo drop him off at Susanna’s study-companion’s place. The girl went by the name of Tina Lofaro and lived on the town’s main street in a three-storey building that, like most of the buildings in the center of town, was rather old. As the inspector was about to ring the intercom, the front door opened and out came a woman of about fifty, trailing an empty shopping cart behind her.

  “Please leave the door open,” Montalbano said to her.

  The woman hesitated a moment, reaching behind her with one arm to hold the door open, torn between courtesy and caution. But after looking him up and down, she made up her mind and walked away. The inspector went in and closed the door behind him. There was no elevator. On the mailboxes, the Lofaro family’s residence corresponded to apartment number six, and since there were two flats per floor, that meant that he would have to climb up three flights of stairs. He had purposely avoided letting them know he was coming. He knew from experience that an unannounced visit from a man of the law always provokes at least a little unease, even in the most honest of people, who immediately wonder: What have I done wrong? Because all honest people believe that at one time or another they have done something wrong, perhaps without even realizing, whereas dishonest people are always convinced they’ve acted honestly. Therefore all of them, honest and dishonest, feel uneasy. And this helps one find the chinks in everyone’s armor.

  The inspector thus hoped, when ringing the doorbell, that Tina herself would answer. Caught by surprise, the girl would certainly reveal whether or not Susanna had told her some little secret that might help the investigation.

  The door opened, and there appeared a short, homely girl of about twenty, dark as a crow, chubby and wearing thick eyeglasses. Tina, surely. The element of surprise worked. But in reverse.

  “I’m Inspector Mon—”

  “—talbano!” said Tina, a big smile cleaving her face from ear to ear. “Wow! How cool! I never thought I’d meet you! Cool! I’m so excited I’m starting to sweat! I’m so happy!”