“What’s wrong, Cat?”
“I’s about to phone you, Chief !”
“What for?”
“Seeing as how I din’t see you here, I got a li’l worried. I’s afraid you was sick.”
“I’m perfectly fine, Cat. Any news?”
“Nuttin, Chief. But Isspector Augello juss came in now sayin’ as how he wants me to tell ’im when y’arrived onna premmisses.”
“You can tell him I’m here.”
Mimì appeared, yawning.
“Feeling sleepy? So you slept late and forgot that you were supposed to go to the village of Columba to —”
Mimì raised a hand to stop him, yawned again, noisily, and sat down.
“Since the kid didn’t let us get a wink of sleep last night—”
“Mimì, I’m starting to get tired of that excuse. I’m going to phone Beba right now to find out if it’s true.”
“You’ll make an ass of yourself if you do. Beba will only confirm my story. If you would just let me finish speaking—”
“Speak.”
“At five o’clock this morning, since I was already wide awake, I headed off for the village of Columba. I figured they started work early. The stable was hard to find. You get there by taking the road to Montelusa.A couple of miles on, there’s a dirt road on the left, a private driveway that leads to the stable, which is all fenced off.There’s a gate with an iron barrier and, next to this, a pole with a button on it. I thought about climbing over the barrier.”
“Bad idea.”
“And in fact I pushed the button, and a few minutes later a man appeared out of a wooden shed and asked me who I was.”
“So what’d you do?”
“From the way he spoke and moved, he looked like a caveman. There was no point in talking to him. So I said I was from the police. In a commanding voice.And he let me in right away.”
“That wasn’t such a good move.We have no authorization to—”
“Come on, the guy didn’t ask me anything at all! He didn’t even ask me for my name! He was ready to answer all my questions, because he thought I was from Montelusa Central.”
“But if La Esterman never reported the stolen horse, how—”
“Wait, I’ll get to that. We only know half the story of this whole affair. Apparently Lo Duca himself reported the crime to Montelusa Central; it’s all rather complicated, as you’ll see.”
“Why file the report at Montelusa?”
“Because half the stable’s property is in our territory, and the other half is in Montelusa’s.”
“So, what’s the story?”
“Wait. First I need to explain to you the layout of the stables. So, just past the barrier, on the left-hand side, are two wooden sheds, one rather large, the other much smaller, and a barn.The first is the watchman’s house; he lives there day and night.The second is used for storing harnesses and trappings and everything else needed for the care of horses. On the right-hand side are ten stalls in a row, where the animals are kept.The last leads to a great big riding-ground.”
“And are the horses always there?”
“No, they are put out to pasture in the meadows of La Voscuzza, which belong to Lo Duca.”
“But did you find out what actually happened?”
“Did I ever! The troglodyte, what’s his name . . . ? Wait a second.”
He pulled a sheet of paper out of his jacket pocket and slipped on a pair of glasses. Montalbano froze.
“Mimì!”
It was almost a scream. Augello, stunned, stared at him.
“What is it?”
“You ...you ...”
“
“You wear glasses now?!”
“Well, yeah.”
“Since when?”
“I just picked them up yesterday evening and put them on for the first time today. If they bother you, I can take them off.”
“Jesus, you look strange in glasses, Mimì!”
“Strange or not, I needed a pair. And if you want some advice, you ought to go have your eyes checked yourself.”
“I see perfectly fine!”
“That’s what you think. But I’ve already noticed that, for some time now, when you read, you hold things out at arm’s length.”
“So? What does that mean?”
“It means you’re presbyopic. And don’t make that face! It’s not the end of the world if you have to wear glasses!”
Maybe not the end of the world, but certainly the end of one’s prime. Wearing glasses for reading meant surrendering to old age without the least bit of a fight.
“So, what’s this troglodyte’s name?” he asked gruffly.
“Firruzza; Antonio Firruzza. He’s the custodian, who for the moment is taking the place of the watchman, whose name is Ippolito Vario.”
“And where’s the watchman?”
“In the hospital.”
“You mean the night the horse was kidnapped, it was Firruzza on guard duty?”
“No, it was Ippolito.”
“So Vario’s his surname?”
The inspector was distracted. He couldn’t take his eyes off the bespectacled Augello.
“No,Vario’s his given name.”[5]
“I’m not following anything anymore.”
“Salvo, if you don’t stop continually interrupting me, I’ll get lost, too. So, what’s it gonna be?”
“Okay, okay.”
“So, that night, around two o’clock Ippolito was woken up by the sound of the doorbell.”
“Does he live alone?”
“Jeez, what a pain in the ass! Will you let me speak, or not? Yes, he lives alone.”
“I’m sorry. But don’t you think a lighter frame would suit you better?”
“Beba likes this one. May I continue?”
“Yeah, yeah.”
“Ippolito gets up out of bed thinking it’s Lo Duca, just back from his travel, with some crazy hankering to see his horses. It wouldn’t have been the first time. So Ippolito grabs a flashlight and goes out to the gate. Bear in mind that it’s a very dark night. But as he approaches the man who wants to come in, he realizes that it’s not Lo Duca. He asks the man what he wants, and by way of an answer the guy points a gun at him. Ippolito is forced to open the gate with his keys.The man then takes the keys and whacks Ippolito in the back of the head with the butt of his pistol, knocking him out.”
“Which prevented the watchman from seeing anything else. Listen, how strong is the correction on those things?”
Mimì stood up in a huff.
“Where are you going?”
“I’m leaving, and I’m not coming back until you stop fixating on my glasses.”
