Kidnapped and a Daring Escape

by Gian Bordin

  "He didn’t, and he was so cunning. When you hear the whole story you will not believe me. Some of the things he did are beyond belief. He is courageous, to the point of being reckless."

  She hears the sound of the front door opening.

  "Ah, here comes your grandfather. You will all have to tell me later," remarks her grandmother. She calls out: "Bianca is here."

  Bianca kisses her grandfather’s cheeks.

  "You look good," he remarks, holding her by her shoulders. "It is hard to believe that you escaped just a few days ago from captivity." He scrutinizes her face again. "You know, you have changed. There is something in your face that was not there before … determination, yes that’s what it is."

  "Yes, I grew up rapidly during the last three weeks, and now I need to be strong more than ever."

  "You really plan to break with Professore Visconti? But why? It would be such a prestigious marriage."

  "Yes, it is finished between Visconti and me."

  "And the reason is the kidnapping? Your father says you blame him."

  "Yes, I do, and sooner or later the truth will come out, and the truth will not be that André Villier has brainwashed me, that I am delusional and suffering from the Stockholm syndrome, as Professore Visconti wants people to believe."

  "Yes, your father told me that they want you to undergo psychological testing."

  "I already got a summons to that effect from Commissario Farnese. She is the one who had André Villier arrested."

  "Commissario Farnese," exclaimed her grandmother. "But isn’t she Franco Visconti’s cousin? Three or four years older than he?"

  "Yes, she is," responds her grandfather. "But this is highly irregular. Are you sure, Bianca, that she is in charge of the investigation?"

  "Yes, I have the summons here." She removes the document from her handbag. "Here, it is signed Commissario C. Farnese."

  "Yes, that is her. Claudia Farnese."

  A cold shiver creeps up Bianca’s spine. "Did you say her first name is Claudia?"

  "Yes, why?"

  She closes her eyes and cups her face with her hands. She feels sick. Another piece of the puzzle sliding into place.

  "What’s the matter, Bianca? Are you ill?" cries her grandmother.

  "No … Yes, for a moment I felt sick. When André got our luggage from the hotel in Popayàn where the tour group had stayed, he also paid the telephone charges Franco failed to settle. One of the calls Franco made in the morning after we were taken hostage was to a Claudia Farnese."

  "How do you know?"

  "I called the number and the woman who answered identified herself as Claudia Farnese." And then asked whether it was Franco who called at that ungodly hour, she recalls.

  "Why would Franco have called her?" questions her grandmother, puzzled.

  "She was Professore Visconti’s lover at some time before our engagement," murmurs Bianca, slowly regaining her composure.

  "Oh yes, I remember. Claudia Farnese and Professore Visconti lived together for several years and then suddenly split up," her grandmother remarks. "It was seen as a minor scandal, the two of them living together."

  "Yes, they split up when Farnese’s career at the Questura took off. I think it was pointed out to her that living with her cousin might be frowned upon and could hinder her advancement," adds her grandfather. "But she should not be in charge of this investigation. I mean, she could be accused of bias."

  Hadn’t André warned her she risked her reputation, Bianca triumphs, recalling the entry on this in his diary? A thought slowly firms in her mind and she laughs cynically. "Farnese made a fatal mistake. I will make sure that the press gets to hear of that."

  "What are you talking about?" questions her grandmother.

  "I will contact an editor of Il Messaggero and tell him about that, as well as a few other things. I’m fairly certain that they will publish it. It will blow her whole case and dent her reputation."

  "At the minimum, it will mean that she will be removed from the investigation," chuckles her grandfather.

  "But now, lets sit down for dinner," admonishes her grandmother. "I’m certain, Berta has been waiting impatiently for us."

  * * *

  Bianca takes leave early after promising to visit her grandparents again soon. Once in her car outside their house, she calls Gallizio and informs him of what she discovered. He promises that first thing tomorrow morning, he is going to lodge an official complaint with the Questore against Commissario Farnese. She does not tell him of her plans to go to the press.

  Next, she drives to the offices of Il Messaggero, and asks to see one of the editors. She is referred to Carla Sanoni, a junior reporter. When Bianca identifies herself and mentions that she has incriminating information about the arrest of André Villier, Carla immediately calls up the night editor in charge, and a minute later, she is ushered into his office.

  "We received your e-mail and the story of Villier’s first forty-eight hours in a Roman prison. What an amazing tale! We will feature it in tomorrow’s issue, possibly on the front page. But Carla tells me that this is not your reason for being here, that in fact you have more information. Is that right?"

  "Yes."

  Bianca now reports on the family relationship and the previous prolonged sexual connection between Professore Visconti and Commissario Farnese. She reveals her father’s admission that he and the professor had made the denuncia after getting advice to that effect from Commissario Farnese, and that Farnese plans to make this a case of the Stockholm syndrome and has already summoned her to undergo a psychiatric assessment. She also mentions the professor’s telephone call to Farnese on the morning after the kidnapping, before he called her own parents. Finally, she reveals that the professor was her former fiancé with whom she broke on the day of her return to Rome. Neither the night editor nor the reporter hide their excitement, bordering on glee, about what she tells them.

  "We are definitely interested in this," says the night editor. "It is scandalous and needs to be made public. However, to protect ourselves as far as is possible, we will run it as your allegations, and I must warn you that if anything of this turns out to be false, you open yourself up to libel."

  "There is nothing in what I said for which I do not have backup. My father will be too proud not to admit his role. I have a witness who heard the professor admit the denuncia and that it was done on Farnese’s advice. It is well known that he and Farnese lived in a sexual relationship for several years prior to his engagement to me, and I have documents to back up the early morning phone call. I am not afraid." She stops herself at the last moment from adding that there will soon be further surprises.

  They take her photograph.

  17

  It is still dusk on Thursday morning, when the cell doors open and the prisoners file out to go down to breakfast. André is doubly vigilant to keep well away from Massimo or Fausto. To his surprise, neither makes an effort to get near him. He is also aware that all the other inmates avoid him, as they already did for the evening meal last night. Nobody sits near him. Only a few latecomers have no choice but to sit at the same table, keeping well clear. He can once more enjoy a meal in relative peace, except for being unobtrusively watched by everybody.

  Back in the cell, Pietro tells him that Massimo has increased the daily protection fee to fifty euros.

  Two hours or so after breakfast, the inmates are led in groups of ten to the showers. Although the previous day his section of the upper corridor was the second group, today they are the last. André also notices that one of the guards supervising them is the one who pocketed the sharpened spoon. He wonders whether Massimo is again in possession of that weapon. But neither of the two tall fellows is in their group. Have the two decided to wait and see if he comes up with the fifty euros or are they simply trying to lull him into believing that he’s safe? Lowering his vigilance is though not part of his nature. In fact, the apparent lack of threat renders him even more alert.

 
; He undresses at the far end of the shower room, making sure to always have the entire room in his vision. It is also the area that is totally captured by the security camera. He lathers himself, again facing into the room, rather than the wall, so that nobody can get close to him unseen. Halfway through his shower, he observes that the guy next to him leaves; it seems after hardly having washed more than his underarms. At the same time, the door to the little storage room near the entrance opens and Massimo and Fausto come out, fully dressed except for being barefoot.

  Here we go, he tells himself, his heartbeat speeds up. He has no intention of letting them take the fight to him, but pretends not seeing them and allows them to approach to within ten feet. Then, without warning, one foot against the wall, he uses its support to propel himself away toward Massimo, but a split-second before reaching him he leaps three feet into the air and his right foot hits Fausto into the throat. The man, unprepared for the sudden change of attack, is thrown backward and his head bashes against the wall. Using his momentum André executes a half turn in the air, and as he comes down on his feet, he hits the right wrist of the retreating Massimo with the same force he would hit a brick to break it in a karate exercise. He can hear the bones of the wrist snap half a second before Massimo scream of pain reverberates in the room. The sharpened spoon the latter had in his right hand slithers into the corner away from the showers. Massimo sinks to the ground, holding his wrist with the other hand, wailing pitifully.

  André sees the two guards rush toward him, batons ready to strike. He withdraws into the corner where the spoon has lodged itself against the wall, raising both hands in front of him, shouting: "I surrender, but don’t hit me."

  That seems to be the obvious intention of both. When the first baton comes crashing down, aimed at his head, he sidesteps at the last moment. The baton barely grazes his shoulder. André grabs it, twisting it at the same time out of the guard’s hand, catching him unprepared, and uses the weapon to parry the blow from the second guard. Then he quickly changes grip to hold the baton by its handle and swings it rapidly in front of him. Frightened, both guards jump back. The one who has lost his baton blows his whistle to call for help. All other prisoners have retreated to the other end of the room. Fausto still lies lifeless at base of the wall, while Massimo continues to moan.

  André repeats again loud enough for the security cameras to capture it: "I will surrender peacefully, provided you do not hit me. You have no right to hit me if I surrender and you handcuff me."

  Two new guards rush into the shower room, batons drawn. And then happens the unexpected. A loud voice thunders: "Guards, step back. Don’t touch the prisoner."

  A man wearing an officer’s uniform strides toward them. The guards check their step. The officer stops a few meters away. André slowly puts the baton on the floor without losing eye contact with the officer and kicks it toward him. Then he holds both hands, fists closed, in front of him, ready to be handcuffed.

  "What’s your name?" the officer asks.

  "André Villier, dottore."

  He nods and says: "Follow me."

  The guard who lost his baton exclaimed: "Dottore, this man is highly dangerous."

  The officer eyes André from top to bottom. Finally he says: "Guard, I don’t think so." He again nods at André, saying: "Come."

  "Dottore, you may wish to collect this spoon and have it checked for fingerprints."

  "Then pick it up and bring it."

  "Dottore, with due respect, I do not wish to have my fingerprints on it."

  "Right." He turns to the guard who had pocketed the spoon the day before. "Pick it up."

  As the guard moves to pick up the spoon, André protests aloud: "No, dottore. Not him. This guard’s fingerprints may already be on the spoon."

  The officer frowns and then questions the guard: "Do you have a plastic bag on you, as the regulations specify?"

  "Yes, dottore."

  "Then carefully pick up that spoon with it."

  André steps aside, watching the guard grab the spoon with the plastic without leaving his own prints on it and then seal the bag. He passes it to the officer.

  "And now, will you follow me, Signor Villier?"

  "Gladly, but may I put on my clothes?"

  "Yes, what are you waiting for?"

  André walks past the stunned guards and gets dressed. Then he follows the officer who takes him into the office, labeled ‘Prison Superintendent’, and asks him to sit. He looks at André for several seconds from behind his desk, before he shakes his head, exclaiming: "Signor Villier, you really cause a lot of trouble."

  He opens a copy of Il Messagero, holds it up, so that André can see the headline on the two narrow left-hand columns. It reads: Swiss Journalist’s first 48 hours in prison. Bianca did it, flashes through his mind, as a broad smile spreads on his face.

  "I see you are pleased," chuckles the superintendent. "You expected that, didn’t you. I have been ordered by the Questore to investigate your accusations as to your treatment in my prison. How did you get this out in the first place?"

  "Do I have to answer that, dottore?"

  "Yes, I would like you to. If it was a guard, I’ll have to take steps."

  "It wasn’t a guard. It was my lawyer."

  "I see. Is your claim that inmates are forced to pay protection money true?"

  "Every single word in that article is what happened and what was told to me, using the words of the people. No embellishments what so ever. I am an investigative journalist and have a reputation to protect. If both Massimo and Fausto — I don’t know their last names, but they are the two fellows who were getting ready to assault me, as the security cameras will reveal — if they are removed from the prison, and the guard who retrieved the spoon is suspended, I am fairly certain that the inmates will talk. Checking on the lifestyle of some of the guards will also tell you quickly which ones live beyond what their salary should allow them to."

  The superintendent smiles. "Yes, I can see the investigative journalist already at work. I’m certain that if I don’t do what you say, you will do it for me."

  "Does that imply that I will be released?"

  "You are quick. Yes. Commissario Farnese has been removed from the case, and I have been ordered to release you forthwith. In fact, Commissario Farnese has been suspended while certain allegations against her are being investigated. Did you also put up Signorina Pacelli to go to the press and reveal highly compromising facts about her and Professore Visconti who is one of the two persons who filed the denuncia against you?"

  "Bianca Pacelli did that?"

  "Yes. Here." He passes the paper to André. "Read while I get the paper work ready for your release."

  Bianca’s revelations feature in the middle two columns of the front page with her photograph. The article is highly compromising and so is the last paragraph. It states that Miss Pacelli’s allegations raise a number of critical questions that the authorities need to find answers to, to wit, why Commissario Farnese was allowed to be the investigating officer in view of the admission by Professor Visconti that she gave the advice to file a denuncia and given that the Questura must surely have known both her family and the sexual relationship with the accuser; why Mr. Villier’s lawyer was only given access to his client on the third day after the arrest and then only because he threatened to lodge a complaint with the Questore; and why the said professor had called Farnese first after the kidnapping, rather than Miss Pacelli’s parents. André is stunned. He can hardly believe his eyes. She was not idle. He feels proud of her. This took courage.

  The superintendent returns and makes him sign several documents. André quickly scans through them to see what he is signing. A guard brings a big plastic bag that contains all his belongings. He is asked to check that everything is there.

  "All, except my passport," he replies.

  "You will have to retrieve that from Commissario Gerola."

  "Is he the person who is now in charge of my case."
r />   "Yes, but there is no case, as far as I can see. All charges have been dropped. He wants to debrief you about the kidnapping."

  "Thank you. That’s good to hear. I would like to change quickly into my own clothes. May I do it here?"

  "Yes, go ahead."

  A minute later, André is done.

  "So, Signor Villier, I am pleased to get you off my hands. You are far too hot to handle. I would have preferred to make your acquaintance under different circumstances. I also hope that you will stick around Rome in case we need to call on you as a witness for any prosecutions that may arise from your stay here."

  "I intend to stay in Rome. There is a wedding waiting for me."

  "Yes, congratulations, and if I’m not mistaken, your future bride is already waiting outside."

  André breaks into a pleased smile. He shakes the hand the officer offers and says: "Thank you, dottore. Thank you particularly for coming in time."

  "Yes, it was close. I was just on the way to summon you when I saw the beginning of the assault on the cameras in the chief guard’s office. So I hurried. Frankly, I was afraid that you would put several guards out of action," he replies with a chuckle.

  He conducts André to the administrative entrance of the prison. Bianca is indeed standing outside against an ochre colored Peugeot 207, next to Gallizio. When she sees him, she comes flying into his open arms, laughing and crying at the same time. He kisses her on the mouth.

  "I love you, my treasure," he murmurs. "I’m so proud of you."

  She only laughs and kisses him back.

  He suddenly becomes aware that two film crews are also there, recording their reunion, but at that moment he doesn’t care. He has his Bianca in his arms, more in love than ever.

  This time, there is no escape from being interviewed, filmed, photographed. Gallizio makes sure that he is in the picture and adds his comments. André holds Bianca at his side. Her face does not stop beaming. Finally, after fifteen minutes, he pleads with them for privacy with his future bride. This leads to more questions as to when the wedding will happen. Gallizio takes his leave.