guzzling its contents. Montalbano froze. Then he gave a start, as Augello began to howl. But, no, he wasn’t howling. He was laughing. What the hell was so funny? At last Mimi managed to speak.
“I said ‘wife,’ Salvo, not ‘life’!”
The inspector felt simultaneously relieved and pissed off. He went into the house, into the bathroom, put his head in the sink, turned on the cold water, and stayed there a bit. When he returned to the veranda, Augello was sitting down again. Montalbano took the bottle from his hands, brought it to his lips, and polished it off.
“I’ll go get another.”
He returned with a brand-new bottle.
“You know, Salvo, when you reacted like that, you scared the shit out of me. I thought you’d become a fag and were in love with me!”
“Tell me about the girl,” Montalbano cut in.
Her name was Rachele Zummo. He’d met her in Fela, at the house of some friends. She worked in Pavia, in the north, but was there visiting her parents.
“What’s she do in Pavia?”
“Want to hear something funny? She’s a policewoman!”
They laughed. And they kept laughing for another two hours, finishing the bottle.
“Hello, Livia? It’s me, Salvo. Were you asleep?”
“Of course I was asleep. What’s happening?”
“Nothing. I wanted to—”
“What do you mean, nothing? Do you know what time it is? It’s two o‘clock in the morning!”
“Oh, really? I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it was so late ... or so early. No, really, it’s nothing, just some silly matter, believe me.”
“Well, even if it’s some silly matter, you’re going to tell me anyway.”
“Mimi Augello said he’s going to get married.”
“Well, isn’t that the latest news! He already told me, three months ago, and begged me not to tell you.”
An extremely long pause.
“Are you still there, Salvo?”
“Yeah, I’m here. So you and Mr. Augello have your little secrets and keep me in the dark, is that how it is?”
“Oh, come on, Salvo!”
“No, Livia, allow me for once to be pissed offl”
“And you allow me the same!”
“Why?”
“Because you called marriage a silly matter, asshole! When in fact you should follow Mimi’s example! Good night!”
He woke up around six o‘clock in the morning, his mouth gluey, his head throbbing slightly. He drank half a bottle of ice water and tried to go back to sleep. No dice.
What to do? The question was answered by the ringing telephone.
At that hour? It was probably that idiot Mimi calling to tell him he’d changed his mind about getting married. He slapped his forehead. So that’s what created the misunderstanding last night! Since when does a Sicilian “take a wife?” In Sicily, one simply gets married! He picked up the receiver.
“Have you changed your mind?”
“No, Chief, I haven’t. That’d be rather difficult, since I don’t know what I would’ve changed my mind about. Care to tell me?”
“Sorry, Fazio, I thought you were someone else. What’s up?”
“Sorry to wake you at this hour, but ...”
“But?”
“We can’t find Catarella. He disappeared yesterday afternoon, leaving the office without saying where he was going. And nobody’s seen him since. We even asked at Montelusa Hospital ...”
Fazio kept on talking, but the inspector was no longer listening. Catarella! He’d completely forgotten about him!
“I’m sorry, Fazio, I apologize to all of you. He went to do something for me and I forgot to tell you. There’s nothing to be worried about.”
He distinctly heard Fazio sigh with relief.
