The Patience of the Spider (10 page)

Im sorry, Doctor, but I would like to speak to you alone.

Do you want me to come to the station?

No, you neednt bother.

Okay, then come to my house around eight oclock this
evening. All right? I live on Via ...well, its too complicated
to explain. Lets do this. Ill meet you at the first filling station
on the road to Fela, just outside Vig. At eight oclock.

The telephone rang again.

Hlo, Chief? Theres some lady wants to talk to you poissonally
in poisson. Says iss a poissonal matter.

Did she say what her name is?

I tink she said GI Joe, Chief.

What! Mostly out of curiosity to find out what the womans
real name was, he accepted the call.

Is det you, Signore? This is Adelina Cirrinci

His housekeeper! He hadnt seen her since Livia arrived.
What could have happened? Or maybe she wanted to threaten
him, too, with something like: If you dont free that girl within
two days, Im not going to come to your house and cook for
you anymore. A terrifying prospect, especially as he remembered
one of her favorite sayings: Tilefunu e tiligramma portanu
malanna, or, Phone calls and telegrams bring bad news.
Therefore, if shed picked up the phone, it meant she had
something very serious to tell him.

What is it,Adel

Signore, I wanna youta know that Pippinas a jess hedda
baby.

Who the hell was Pippina? And why was she telling him
shed just given birth? His housekeeper realized the inspector
was drawing a blank.

Don you rimimber, Signore? Pippinas my son a
Pasqualis wife.

Adelina had two criminally inclined sons who were constantly
in and out of jail, and the inspector had attended the
wedding of the younger son, Pasquale. Had nine months already
passed? Jesus, how time flew! He grew sullen. For two
reasons: one, because old age was drawing closer and closer

and, two, because old age brought to mind banal clichlike
the one that had just come into his head. But his anger at having
had such a commonplace thought cut short the sadness
rising up inside him.

Boy or girl?
Boy, signore.
My heartfelt congratulations.
Wait, signore. Pasquali an Pippina said they wanna youta

be the godfather atta bappetism.

In short, hed done them one good turn by attending the
wedding, and now they wanted him do them another by becoming
the kids godfather at the baptism.

And whens the baptism?
In about ten days.
Gimme a couple of days to think about it,Adelokay?
Okay. And whens a Miss Livia leaving?

He went to his usual trattoria. Livia was already sitting at a
table. From afar one could see, from the look she gave him as
he sat down, that this going to be no picnic.

So, are you getting anywhere? she attacked.
Livia, we spoke less than an hour ago!
So what? A lot of things can happen in an hour.
Does this seem like the proper place to discuss these

things?

Yes. Because when you come home you never tell me
anything about your work. Or would you rather I come to the
station to discuss it, Inspector?

Livia, we really are doing everything we can. At this very

moment, most of my men, including Mimnd another squad
from Montelusa, are scouring the nearby countryside, looking
for

And why, while your men are out scouring the countryside,
are you quietly sitting here with me in a trattoria?

Its what the commissioner wanted.

The commissioner wanted you to go eat at a trattoria
while your men are working hard and that girls life is a living
hell?

What a pain in the ass!

Livia, stop breaking my balls!

Hiding behind obscenity, eh?

Livia, you would make a peerless agent provocateur.The
commissioner has divvied up responsibilities. Im working with
Minutolo, whos in charge of the investigation, while Mim
and others keep searching. Its hard work.

Poor Mim

Poor everybody, according to Livia. Poor girl, poor
Mim..The only person unworthy of her pity was him. He
pushed away the dish of plain spaghetti allaglio e olio, which
hed been forced to order because Livia was with him. Enzo,
the proprietor, came running, concerned.

Whats wrong, Inspector?

Nothing, Im just not very hungry, he lied.

Livia didnt make a peep and went on eating. In an attempt
to lighten the atmosphere and get himself ready to savor
the second course hed orderedaiole in a sauce whose
fragrance was wafting out from the kitchen, sending him positive
signalshe decided to tell Livia about the phone call
from his housekeeper. He set off on the wrong foot.

Adelina rang me at the office this morning.
I see.
She shot out the words like bullets.
Whats I see supposed to mean?
It means Adelina rings you at the office, not at home, be

cause at home I might answer instead of you, which would

surely leave her traumatized.
Okay, never mind.
No, Im curious. What did she want?
She wants me to go be the godfather at the baptism of

her grandson, the son of her son Pasquale.
And what did you tell her?
I asked her to give me a couple of days to think about it.

But I have to confess, Im leaning toward saying yes.
Youre insane!
She said it too loudly. Mr. Militello, an accountant sitting

at the table to their left, stopped his fork in midair, mouth
hanging open; Dr. Piscitello, sitting at the table on their right,
choked on the wine hed just sipped.

Why? asked Montalbano, puzzled at her vehement reaction.

What do you mean, why? Isnt this Pasquale, your house-
keepers son, a repeat offender? Havent you arrested him several
times yourself?

So what? I would be the godfather of a newborn infant
who, until proved otherwise, hasnt yet had the time to become
a repeat offender like his father.

Thats not what Im saying. Do you know what it means
to be the godfather at a babys baptism?

I dunno, you hold the baby while the priest
Livia shook her forefinger.
Sorry, darling, but becoming a godfather means taking

on specific responsibilities. Didnt you know?
No, Montalbano said sincerely.
If anything should happen to the father, the godfather is

supposed to take his place in all matters concerning the child.

He becomes a kind of stand-in for the father.
Really?! said Montalbano, in shock.
Ask around, if you dont believe me. So, what may hap

pen is that next time you arrest this Pasquale, hell go to jail
and youll have to see to the needs of his son and keep an eye
on his behavior...Can you imagine that?

Er . . . shall I bring the fish? asked Enzo.
No, said Montalbano.
Yes, said Livia.
Livia refused to let him drive her home, taking the bus to

Marinella instead. Since he hadnt eaten anything, Montalbano
skipped the walk along the jetty and went back to the
office. It wasnt even three oclock yet. Catarella intercepted
him in the main entrance.

Ahh, Chief! Chief! The cmishner called!
When?
Now, now! In fack, hes still onna line!
The inspector grabbed the phone from the closet that

passed for a switchboard.
Montalbano? You must activate yourself immediately,
Commissioner Bonetti-Alderighi said in an imperious tone.
How was he supposed to do that? By pushing a button?

Turning a knob? And wasnt the propellorlike spin his cojones
went into whenever he so much as heard the commissioners
voice a kind of activation?

Yes, sir.

Ive just been informed that Inspector Augello fell and
hurt himself in the course of his investigations. He must be
immediately replaced. You, for the moment, will take over for
him. But dont take any initiatives. Within a few hours Ill
arrange for a younger person to step in.

Ah, how kind and sensitive of the commissioner! A
younger person. What, did Bonetti-Alderighi somehow think
himself a babe in arms?

Gallo!

He put all the pique that was bubbling up inside him into
that shout. Gallo appeared in an instant.

What is it, Chief?

Find out where Inspector Augello is. Apparently hes
hurt himself. We must go relieve him at once.

Gallo turned pale.

Matre santa! he said.

Why was he so worried about Augello? The inspector
tried to console him.

I dont think its anything serious, you know. He must
have slipped and

I was thinking about myself, Chief.

Why, whats wrong?

I dont know, Chief, it mustve been something I ate . . .
The fact is that my stomachs all upside down and Im running
to the bathroom every couple of minutes.

Well, youll just have to hold it in.

Gallo went out muttering to himself, then returned a few
minutes later.

Inspector Augello and his team are in Cancello district,
on the road to Gallotta. About forty-five minutes from here.

Lets go. Go fetch the squad car.

Theyd been rolling along the provincial road for over half an

hour when Gallo turned to Montalbano and said:

Chief, I cant take it anymore.

How far are we from Cancello?

A couple of miles at most, but I

Okay, pull over the first chance you get.

On their right began a sort of trail marked by a tree with
a board nailed to it. On the board were the words: fresh eggs.
The countryside was uncultivated, a forest of wild plants.

Gallo turned onto the trail, stopped almost at once, dashed
out of the car, and disappeared behind a thicket of boxthorn.
Montalbano also got out and lit a cigarette. About a hundred
yards away was a little white die of a country cottage with a
small yard in front. That must be where the fresh eggs were
sold. He walked over to the edge of the trail and started to
open the zipper on his trousers, but it promptly got stuck on
his shirt and refused to budge any further. Montalbano looked
down to examine the hitch, and as he was lowering his head, a
shaft of light struck him square in the eyes. Once hed finished,
the zipper got stuck again, and he repeated the same
motion, with the exact same results. That is, he lowered his
head and the shaft of light struck his eyes again. He looked to
see where the gleam was coming from, and there, half hidden

by the bottom part of a bush, was some sort of round object.
He immediately realized what it was, and in two strides he was
in front of the bush. A motorcycle helmet. Small. Made for a
womans head. It must not have been lying there very long,
because there was only a very fine layer of dust on it. New, no
scrapes. He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket, wrapped
it around his right hand, fingers included, crouched down,
grabbed the helmet, and flipped it over. Then he flopped facedown
on the ground to look carefully inside it. It appeared to
be very clean. No bloodstains. Two or three long strands of
blonde hair were snagged inside it and stood out against the
black padding. He was absolutely certain the helmet belonged
to Susanna.

Hey, Chief, where are you?

It was Gallo. He put the helmet back the way hed found
it and stood up.

Come here.

Gallo approached, his curiosity aroused. Montalbano
pointed to the helmet.

I think thats the girls.

You really are one lucky asshole, Gallo couldnt help
saying.

Its your asshole thats the lucky one, said the inspector.
My compliments to its investigative skills.

But if the helmet is here, it means the girl is being held
somewhere nearby! Should I call for reinforcements?

Thats what they want you to think, and thats why they
dumped the helmet here. Theyre trying to throw us off the
trail.

So what should we do?

Get ahold of Augellos team and have them send somebody
to stand guard here. Meanwhile, dont you move from
this spot until they arrive. I dont want some passerby to find
the helmet and make off with it. And move the car as well, because
youre blocking the way.

Who is ever going to pass this way?

Montalbano, who had started walking away, didnt answer.

And where are you going?

Im going to see if they really do have fresh eggs.

As he approached the cottage, the sound of clucking grew
louder and louder, but he didnt see any chickens. The coop
must have been behind the house. As he entered the yard, a
girl came out of the open front door of the cottage. She was
thirtyish, tall, with black hair but fair skin, and a full, beautiful
body. She was sort of dressed up and wearing high heels. For
a moment Montalbano thought she was some lady whod
come to buy eggs. But the woman smiled at him and said in
dialect:

Whyd you leave your car so far away? You could have
parked it right here in front.

Montalbano made a vague gesture with his hand.

Please come in, said the woman, going in first.

A wall divided the small houses interior into two rooms.
The one in front, which must have been the dining room, featured
a table in the middle with four baskets of eggs on top, as
well as four cane chairs, a sideboard with a phone, a refrigerator,
and a small gas stove in the corner. Another corner was
hidden by a plastic curtain. The only thing that looked out of
place in the room was a small cot that served as a sofa. Everything
was sparkling clean. The young woman stared straight at

him but said nothing. A few moments later she finally asked,

in a whisper the inspector didnt know what to make of:

Did you come for eggs, or...?

What was or... supposed to mean? The only way to
find out was to see what would happen.

Or . . . Montalbano said.

The woman got up, cast a quick glance at the back room,
then closed the door. The inspector imagined there must be
someone, perhaps a sleeping child, in the other room, obviously
the bedroom. The woman sat down on the cot, took off
her shoes, and started unbuttoning her blouse.

Close the front door. If you want to wash, youll find
everything behind the curtain, she said to Montalbano.