from the mother’s side, a bachelor, who treated them well and with great affection. Giulia and Antonio became very attached as they grew up, as often happens with orphaned siblings. Shortly after Giulia’s sixteenth birthday, the uncle died. He had very little money, and so Giulia left school so that Antonio could continue his studies. She took a job as a salesgirl. Salvatore, my brother, met her when she was twenty and fell in love with her. Actually, they both fell in love. But Giulia refused to marry him before Antonio had graduated and found a decent job. She never accepted the least bit of financial help from her future husband. She did everything herself. Finally Antonio became an engineer, found a good job, and Giulia and Salvatore could get married. Three years later, my brother was offered a job in Uruguay. He accepted and went to live there with his wife. Meanwhile—” The trill of the telephone shattered the silence of the villa and the surrounding countryside like a burst of Kalashnikov fire. The doctor sprang to his feet and went over to the console the phone was on.
“Hello? . . . Yes, what is it? . . . When? . . . Yes, I’ll be right over . . . Inspector Montalbano’s here with me; would you like to speak with him?”
He was pale. He turned around and, without a word, handed the receiver to the inspector. It was Fazio.
“Chief? I tried you at the office and at home, but nobody could tell me where . . . Listen, the kidnappers just called, not ten minutes ago . . . I think it’s better if you come here yourself.” “I’m on my way.”
“Just a minute,” said Carlo Mistretta. “I need to go get some medication for Salvatore. He’s very distraught.” He went out. They’d phoned sooner than they’d said.
Why? Perhaps something had gone wrong for them and they no longer had much time? Or was it simply a tactic to confuse everyone? The doctor returned with a small handbag.
“I’ll go out first, and you can follow me in your car.
There’s a shortcut to my brother’s house from here.”
09
They arrived in less than half an hour. A uniformed policeman from Montelusa who didn’t know the inspector opened the gate. He let the doctor pass and then blocked Montalbano’s car.
“Who are you?”
“What I wouldn’t give to know! Let’s just say that, conventionally speaking, I’m Inspector Montalbano.” The policeman gave him a puzzled look, but let him drive through. In the living room they found only Minutolo and Fazio.
“Where is my brother?” the doctor asked.
“Listen,” said Minutolo, “when listening to the phone call he nearly passed out. So I went upstairs to call the nurse, who roused him and persuaded him to go lie down.”
“I’m going upstairs,” said the doctor.
And he left, bag in hand. Fazio, meanwhile, had set up the equipment near the telephone.
“This one’s also a recorded message,” Minutolo began.
“And this time they get to the point. Listen, and we’ll talk afterwards.”
The same disguised male voice that was in the first recording.
“Did you manage to trace the call?” Montalbano asked.
“You ask such useless questions!” Minutolo retorted.
“This time they didn’t let us hear Susanna’s voice.”
“Right.”
“And they talk in lire.”
“How did you expect them to talk?” Minutolo asked sar-castically.
“In euros.”
“Isn’t it the same thing?”
“No, it’s not. Unless you belong to that class of shopkeepers who think a thousand lire’s the same as a euro.”
“What’s your point?”
“Nothing, just an impression.”
“Say it.”
“The person sending the message still thinks the old way.
It’s comes more naturally to him to count in lire instead of euros. He didn’t say ‘three million euros,’ he said six billion lire. In short, it seems to me that the man on the phone is of a certain age.” “Or he’s clever enough to have us thinking that way,” said Minutolo. “He’s taking us for a ride the way he did when he scattered the helmet and backpack at the opposite ends of town.” “Can I go outside for a bit? I need some air,” said Fazio.
“I’ll be back in five minutes. In any case, if the phone rings, you’re here to pick up.”
Not that he really needed to go out. He just didn’t feel right, listening to a conversation between his superiors.
