“Hello?”
“Hi, this is Greta Alfieri… erm, can I come in to have a quick chat with you? You don’t have to answer my questions if you don’t want to – feel free to say anything that you want.”
*
Claps had not expected this – Rinaldi had actually worked skilfully and cleverly right from the start of his conversations with Riondino. He had confidently pursued the path Professor Reti had started down.
Under the Rinaldi’s supervision, Riondino had continued his process of merging the personalities and had acquired more memories from each individual one.
Rinaldi hadn’t talked to Julia much; he seemed to have been mainly interested in the Fox, the Earl and of course, Jack.
When had Jack begun to play games with him?
How had it been possible that such a competent man had been fooled by a twisted mind?
The answer was clear – Rinaldi hadn’t hypnotised his patient. Consequently, Riondino had been able to act, lie, play games… all of which he would not have been able to do under hypnosis.
Rinaldi’s voice sounded a lot deeper on tape than in real life. “We all have problems, Jack, but we’re here to talk about yours, not mine.”
“I thought you enjoyed the conversation – we’re friends now.”
“We’re on the same wavelength, but it’s a doctor and patient type of relationship. Friendship only comes later, Jack, when you finally leave this place.”
“Is that day still a long way off?”
“You’re making good progress – you’ll get there.”
“I’m giving my all to this – will you do the same, Doctor?”
“Sure, you can count on me. Why do you ask, Jack?”
“You’ve been a little absent-minded recently, almost distracted. As though your mind is on other things. That’s why I asked if you have any problem that worries you.”
“It’s not the right time to talk about it yet, but you can rest assured that my professional commitment will always be constant.”
“I trust you, but there’s something that worries you, right?”
“They’re just personal issues, nothing to do with our conversation. As I said, we’re here to solve your problems, not mine.”
“You’re so stand-offish.”
“Enough is enough, Jack. We can defer our meeting if you don’t feel like talking normally today.”
“I just wanted to be helpful. Trust me, there’s nobody understands better than me how difficult it is to open up… you know what I’m thinking, Doctor? I would like to learn how to hypnotise people and use this skill on you, to help you. Just like you do with me.”
Claps jumped on his seat. Hypnosis? Rinaldi hypnotised Riondino?
Why had he denied it so firmly when Claps had met him? What was the point of lying?
An idea began to form in Claps’ mind. Maybe there was something they hadn’t considered right under their noses.
*
Rinaldi welcomed in Greta with a big smile – she took the same seat Claps had to question Rinaldi a few days earlier.
Greta was speechless, she wasn’t expecting this reaction from Rinaldi. She had imagined him tense, nervous, as Claps had described him. A man oppressed by the situation in which he found himself. Instead, the man sitting in front of Greta was calm and relaxed. He was looking at her confidently with a hint of a smile. He was waiting for Greta to start the conversation.
“Thanks for agreeing to talk to me – if I must be honest, I thought that you wouldn’t want to?”
“Why not? That would be rude.”
His voice was different – it sounded almost feminine.
“First of all, I’d like to ask your opinion about what’s been happening recently.”
“What are you talking about, specifically?”
Greta was confused – was he joking? Was that Rinaldi’s new way to put off the journalists?
She answered calmly. “You haven’t been following the news recently?”
“I’m afraid not – I don’t watch telly any more.” Rinaldi was still smirking, his eyes were fixed on Greta.
“You don’t read the newspapers?” Greta’s voice sounded a little perplexed, this time.
“No, I never do.”
Greta felt angry and frustrated. Why hadn’t he simply refused to talk to her?
“As I said before, you don’t have to answer my questions. Would you like to say anything at all? If not, then I won’t carry on, if that’s okay with you.”
Rinaldi would pay for toying with her like that – she would tear him to shreds in that night’s programme.
Rinaldi didn’t answer for a while. He limited himself to looking at Greta, his eyes moved over her face and body. Greta felt immediately uneasy, she crossed her legs and pulled her skirt as far down as she could.
“You’re a beautiful woman, you know? Is that your natural hair colour?”
That was enough for Greta – she sprang to her feet. “Are you going to show me out of here or shall I just make my own way?”
“Your scent is good – are you sure you don’t want to stop by for a while?”
“Are you serious?”
Greta was furious – she turned towards the front door, but Rinaldi did something that startled her.
“Hang on a minute…” he muttered, then he began to rock back and forth. His eyes, which he was keeping half-closed, moved quickly from side to side.
“Doctor Rinaldi… are you okay?”
It only took a few seconds – just enough time for Greta to lean forward to check whether Rinaldi was having an epileptic fit. The following second, he became still, then opened his eyes again.
His eyes were different – his pupils were two steely blades.
His voice had become hoarse and hissing. “You won’t go anywhere, bitch.”
27
“These are the best frames – we have expanded them and worked on contrast and definition. Can I hand them over to the newspapers and the TV?”
Three frames had been printed off, they were laid on Sensi’s desk. Riondino was at the underground station in all three photos – in one of them, he had turned his back towards the CCTV; the other two frames showed him from a three-quarters angle. The hat and the backpack were clearly visible, his face was covered by the large glasses.
“Are there any frames with a frontal view of him?”
Maiezza seemed in a rush to end the conversation. He was holding two more photographs that he hadn’t yet shown to Sensi. “None that can be used successfully, unfortunately. The ones that you see are the best.”
“What about the ones you’re holding in your hands?”
“It took us a bit longer than expected, but do you remember what you asked for yesterday? Well…” Maiezza showed him the other two photos. “These are from the CCTV near the optician’s shop from two mornings ago, before Riondino returned in the evening to…” Maiezza didn’t finish the sentence.
“To do what he did?” Sensi concluded impatiently for him. “What time?”
“11:03. We don’t see him enter the shop of course, but he walks past the camera again at 11:19.”
Sensi looked carefully at the photos. Riondino was wearing the same hat, but without the glasses and the backpack. “This time he took sixteen minutes to walk the eighty metres.” Claps was right – Riondino had been there before.
What for, though?
“Maiezza, can you get hold of the receipts issued from the shop during that span of time?”
Maiezza smiled proudly with satisfaction. “I’ve also been wondering what Riondino might have bought there, assuming that he bought anything at all. I worked hard to find out more. There is one receipt issued between 11:00 and 11:20, at 11:16 precisely.”
“It might have been for another customer who was in the shop already.” Sensi tried his best not to raise his hopes too much.
“Well, if it was for Riondino…”
“What? What’s the receipt for?”
“The receipt is for four passport sized photos, costing eight Euros.”
“Fuck!” Sensi sprang to his feet automatically. “He needed them for some new fake documents! Listen, we need…”
Maiezza interrupted him. “I have sent somebody to retrieve the memory card from the camera and the computer in the shop. It will only take a few minutes.”
Claps had glanced through all of the conversations between Rinaldi and Riondino. He had done it twice to be absolutely certain, but he hadn’t found any traces of hypnosis being conducted on Riondino. Yet Riondino had explicitly said that Rinaldi had hypnotised him. “I would like to learn how to hypnotise people and use this skill on you, to help you. Just like you do with me.”
Why had Rinaldi lied to him, then?
Maybe because if he had admitted that he had hypnotised Riondino, it would have been impossible for him to carry on with the merging of Julia, considering what Professor Reti had witnessed before him? Was that a way for him to justify his decision to move Riondino to a rehabilitation unit?
Why was there no trace of any hypnosis in the recordings that Claps had watched?
Claps looked frantically for his calendar and eventually found it in one of the drawers. He circled the dates of the therapy meetings that he knew about in red.
He began to reflect on them and the doubt that had arisen in his mind became more of a certainty.
*
The pain at the base of her neck was the first thing that she felt, as she began to regain consciousness. Then, a buzzing sound invaded her mind, her brain. The feeling of being able to breathe, to control its pace. To have a body. Greta slowly felt her senses returning, but she didn’t know what had happened yet.
It all came back to her like thunder – she was naked, laid on a bed, gagged, her hands and her feet tied like she was on a cross. She suddenly remembered what had happened. It was overwhelming.
She struggled, she tried to scream, to free herself from the knots that were keeping her tied to the bed. It was all useless. While she jerked, she understood everything – Rinaldi… Riondino. It was Hannibal. He had taken her. Hannibal.
Eventually, while a wave of terror was running through her body, she saw him. Riondino was there, in the shadows, sitting at the foot of the bed, staring at her.
Greta tried to scream again, but all that came through the gag was a deadened moan. She pulled desperately on the ropes, which were firmly tied to the bed. She surrendered a few minutes later – it was a hopeless fight. Her breathing had become heavier, she could only use her nose to breathe and the air didn’t satisfy her desperate need for oxygen.
Why did that matter anyway? The monster was there with her and his knife would kill her soon. The game was about to end. There was no way out.
Greta suddenly realised that the fear had left her. It had been replaced by a feeling of revulsion at what she knew would happen before her death.
Riondino had remained still the whole time. He was calm, his hands on his stomach and his eyes showed that he was lucid. That was an expression that Greta would have never imagined seeing in Riondino. She remembered his voice, his posture when he had welcomed her into the house. Julia?
A deafening silence reigned in the room for a while – the only thing that could be heard was Greta’s heavy breathing.
Riondino stretched out his hand, he began to caress her foot. “I like your nail polish.” That voice again – it sounded even softer now, more feminine and creepy. “What’s the brand?”
Julia!
That had to be Julia!
“I’ll take off the gag, but please don’t scream. Hannibal would hear you before anybody else did,” Riondino told her.
Greta nodded vigorously. Julia. Fuck, that was Julia. Maybe it wasn’t over yet.
Riondino moved closer and freed Greta from the gag with a few, simple moves.
Greta breathed in deeply. She finally felt enough air rush into her lungs. Another deep breath.
Calm, she had to keep calm. Maybe she still had a chance. “It’s Rouge… by Dior,” she sounded hoarse and tired. “I put it on this morning.”
“It’s beautiful. Classy.”
Greta began to think feverishly. She looked around her, looking desperately for anything, an idea. Not too far away from her, there was a small statue of Nike, the winged goddess on the bedside cabinet. Maybe she could grab it…
“I might have it in my bag – if you free my hands, we’ll have a look together and I’ll give it to you. It would be a pleasure.”
Riondino stared at her in silence, he was still caressing her feet with a smile on his face.
Had she made a mistake? Maybe she had tried too soon?
“That’s very nice of you, but Jack would never let me wear it.” The calm expression again – he almost looked dreamy. That voice. How did it belong to that body? What kind of freak was this man? “You’re beautiful…” Riondino’s hand ran over her body. A light touch. “Your breasts are beautiful.” A light caress.
Greta felt guilty when she felt her nipples grow harder under the touch of Riondino’s hands.
Julia…
Professor Reti had noted down in his file that she had admitted to having erotic dreams. What kind of dreams? Homosexual ones?
What could she do? What was the best thing to do?
“I like your caresses.”
“Really?” Riondino moved closer to her, his face was a few inches away. His caresses became more aggressive. The smile was quickly swept away by lust. “Your skin is so silky. It’s beautiful.”
Greta felt Riondino’s warm breath on her neck. She fought against the revulsion, painfully but with determination, and she simulated pleasure. She arched her back when Riondino’s hands began to run down her hips.
“I would like to caress you with my own hands,” she said, breathily.
Riondino lay down next to her. He leaned his head on her breasts.
Greta felt his lips move a few inches away from her skin. “Would you like that?” She forced herself to whisper. “I would.”
Riondino remained silent, he carried on caressing her. His hands touched Greta’s stomach lightly.
“Free my hands… let me touch your skin.”
Riondino pulled back all of a sudden. He lifted his head towards Greta. A sweet smile on his face.
Greta tried her best not to look at the little statue. He was a few inches away from her… she felt him.
“Please…” She wanted to drown Julia in pleasure, she knew she could do that. She would have to wait for the right moment. She would have to hit him mercilessly.
“Do you want me to caress you?” Greta opened her mouth slightly. “Do you want to feel my lips on your body?” Riondino didn’t move. His hand began to caress her breasts.
“Are you afraid of Jack?”
“He would be angry if I freed your hands.”
“You can tie me down again afterwards. Jack will never know.”
Did she see uncertainty in Riondino’s eyes for a moment?
“You don’t want me to caress you?” Greta asked again – her tone was the sexiest that she could do. “It will be beautiful.”
“I don’t know… I never did this with the others.”
The others?
Greta felt as though she was falling. Her voice sounded choked up. “Who are the others, Julia?”
“Do you know my name?”
Fear. Greta was suddenly overwhelmed by pure terror.
The hope of getting out of there was about to vanish in a blink of an eye.
A sudden burst of anger. “Yes, I know your fucking name! Who are the others?”
“It was long ago… I used to caress them before Hannibal showed up.”
Greta felt her voice die in her throat. “You know what Hannibal did to them, right? Do you want him to do it to me too?”
Riondino acted like he didn’t hear the question. His hand moved lightly to Greta’s neck and face. His fingers touched her lips. “Long ago…
but they weren’t as beautiful as you.”
“Let me go. Please. Free me. You can caress me as much as you like later.”
“I can’t do that, you know I can’t. They would take us back to the horrible place,” he answered in a disarmingly simple way.
“I won’t say anything to anybody, I promise,” Greta begged him. She was almost sobbing. “It will be our secret. Any time you want. You can come over to mine any time you want.”
Riondino looked thoughtful, torn apart. His eyes stared into Greta’s pleading face for a long time. Then he smiled sweetly and put his hands on one of the knots.
Greta closed her eyes. She prayed to God as she hadn’t for many years; maybe in her whole life. She waited to feel her hands free from the knots for what felt like an eternity.
Instead, all that she felt was a terrifying feeling of suffocation.
She tried to wriggle away while Riondino’s strong hands gagged her again.
“I can’t do it, there’s a child that I have to protect.” That absurd voice was gentle and mellow. “I can’t risk going back to that place,” he said. Then he walked out of the room. “Jack will let me find other girls that I can caress later on.”
*
“Yes, Mr Claps.” The secretary at the Montelupo secure unit had been very kind, but perhaps a little impatient. “We have given you all the video tapes that we have, there are no more available.”
“May I have a list of all the… therapy meetings that Riondino has had with Doctor Rinaldi?”
“What do you mean exactly?”
Claps lost his patience all of a sudden. He was desperate to know as soon as possible.
“The dates. I want to know the date of each therapy meeting.”
“Of course, I’ll send you an email with the full list tomorrow.”
“No, I need them now, please.” Claps almost screamed down the phone. “I’m sorry… it’s just really important.” he added, speaking more gently.
“I’ll need some time – I’ll have to go through some of the files.”
“It’s very important.” Claps repeated.
“Okay, I’ll do my best. I’ll send you an email as soon as I have compiled the list.”
Hunted Page 22
