“No, I’ve already asked Riguccio too many things. He’s a true cop and might get suspicious. No, I think I know of another way. The harbor authority. They’re the ones who receive all the information from the fishermen and patrol boats and pass it on to the commissioner’s office. What information there is to be had, that is, since often nobody knows anything about these illegal landings. Do you know anyone at the harbor office?”
“No, Chief.”
“I do,” said Mimi. “Until last year I used to spend time with a lieutenant from the office, who’s still around.”
“Good. When can you go talk to this guy?”
“This woman, you mean,” Mimi corrected him. “But don’t get the wrong idea. I tried, but there was nothing doing. We’ve remained friends. As soon as I get back from Spigonella, I’ll take Beba home and go look her up.”
“And what are we going to do about Marzilla, Chief?”
“After Spigonella, we’ll cook his goose along with Aguglia’s.”
Opening the refrigerator, he got a nasty surprise. Adelina had tidied up the house as requested, but all she’d made to eat was half a boiled chicken. What kind of bullshit was this? That was a dish for the sick! For someone awaiting last rites! A horrible suspicion occurred to him—that is, that Fazio had told the housekeeper he’d been unwell and therefore should eat lightly. But how could he have told her, if the phone was unplugged? Via carrier pigeon? No, this was clearly some sort of vendetta on Adelina’s part, for the mess he’d left the house in. On the kitchen table he found a note he hadn’t noticed when he’d made himself coffee.
He sat out on the veranda and swallowed down the boiled chicken with the help of an entire jar of pickles. As soon as he’d finished, the phone rang. Apparently Adelina had plugged it back in. It was Livia.
“Salvo, finally! I was so worried! I must have called ten times last night, right up to midnight. Where were you?”
“Sorry. We had to do a stakeout and—”
“I’ve got some good news for you.”
“Oh? What?”
“I’m coming tomorrow.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I’ve done and said so much that they gave me three days.”
Montalbano felt a wave of happiness sweep over him.
“So, aren’t you going to say something?” asked Livia.
“What time do you get in?”
“Noon. At Punta Raisi.”
“I’ll either come myself or send someone to get you. I’m so . . .”
“Come on. Is it so hard for you to say it?”
“No. I’m so happy.”
Before lying down—because he suddenly felt like taking a nap—he had to tidy up the bedroom or he wouldn’t be able to close his eyes.
Mimi straggled back in well past six o’clock, and Fazio came in behind him.
“You took your time, I’d say,” Montalbano chided him.
“But I’ve got some good stuff.”
“Like what?”
“First of all, these.”
He took ten or so Polaroid snapshots out of his pocket. Every one of them showed a smiling, pregnant Beba in the foreground, and the villa at Spigonella, shot from every possible angle, in the background. In two or three of them, Beba was actually leaning against the bars of the entrance gate, which was locked shut with a chain and big padlock.
“But did you tell Beba what you were doing there, and who was inside that villa?”
“No. What need was there? This way she acted more naturally.”
“So you didn’t see anyone?”
“Maybe they were watching us from inside, but we certainly didn’t see anyone outside. They want to give the impression that the house is uninhabited. See that padlock? It’s all for show, because one could easily slip a hand through the bars and open the gate from the inside.”
He selected another photo and handed it to the inspector.
“This is the right-hand side of the house. There’s an external staircase leading to the upper floor, and that large door below must be the garage. Did Ingrid mention whether the garage is connected to the rest of the house?”
“No, the garage is a separate space without any doors except its entrance. There is, however, an internal staircase between the ground floor and the upstairs, though Ingrid never actually saw it, since the only access to it was through a door D’Iunio said he didn’t have the key to. And I’m sure there’s another staircase leading from the ground floor down to the grotto.”
“At a glance, the garage looks like it could hold two cars.”
