Fatal Remedies

‘Where is he?’

‘Castelfranco Veneto. He’s driving a truck for a pharmaceutical factory called Interfar.’

‘I’ll come out there. I want to get him. Tonight.’

* * * *

In order to join the Padova police in the raid on Palmieri’s apartment, he had to lie to Paola. During lunch he told her that the police in Castelfranco had a suspect in custody and wanted him to go up there to speak to him. When she asked why he had to stay away all night, he explained that the man wouldn’t be brought in until quite late and there were no trains back after ten. In fact, there were to be none at all in the Veneto that afternoon. The air- traffic controllers at the airport having declared a wildcat strike at noon, closing the airport and forcing incoming planes to reroute and land at Bologna or Trieste, the railway engineers’ union decided to strike in sympathy with their demands, so all train traffic in the Veneto came to a halt.

‘Take a car, then.’

‘I am, as far as Padova. That’s all Patta will authorize.’

‘That means he doesn’t want you to go up there, doesn’t it?’ she said, looking at him across the plates and leavings of the meal. The children had already disappeared into their rooms, so they could talk openly. ‘Or doesn’t know you’re going.’

‘That’s partly it,’ he said. He took an apple from the fruit basket and began to peel it. ‘Good apples,’ he remarked as he tasted the first piece.

‘Don’t be evasive, Guido. What’s the other reason?’

‘I might have to talk to him for a long time, so I don’t know when I’d get back.’

‘And they’ve got this man and all they’re doing is bringing him in so you can grill him?’ she asked sceptically.

‘I’ve got to ask him about Mitri,’ Brunetti said – an evasion, rather than an outright lie.

‘Is this the man who did it?’ she enquired.

‘It could be. He’s wanted for questioning in at least three other murders.’

‘Questioning? What does that mean?’

Brunetti had read the files, so he knew there was a witness who had seen him with the second victim on the night of his death. And there was the fight with Narduzzi. And now a job driving a truck for a pharmaceutical factory. In Castelfranco. Bonaventura’s company. ‘He’s implicated.’

‘I see,’ she said, hearing in his tone his reluctance to be more explicit. ‘Then you’ll be home tomorrow morning?’

‘Yes.’

‘What time are you leaving?’ she asked in sudden concession.

‘Eight.’

‘Are you going back to the Questura?’

‘Yes.’ He was going to add something about needing to hear if the man had been formally charged, but he stopped himself. He didn’t like lying, but it seemed better than having her worry about his deliberately putting himself in danger. If she knew, she’d tell him that both his age and his rank ought to spare him that.

He had no idea if he’d get any sleep that night, or where, but he went back into the bedroom and put a few things into a small bag. He opened the left door of the large walnut armadio, the one Count Orazio had given them as a wedding present, and pulled out his keys. He used one of them to unlock a drawer, then another for a rectangular metal box. He pulled out his pistol and holster, and slipped them into his pocket, then carefully relocked both the box and the drawer.

He thought of the Iliad, then, and of Achilles donning his armour before going into battle with Hector: mighty shield, greaves, spear, sword and helmet. How paltry a thing and how ignoble seemed this little metal object resting against his hip, the gun Paola always referred to as a portable penis. And yet how quickly had gunpowder put an end to chivalry and all those ideas of glory descended from Achilles. He stopped at the door and told himself to pay attention: he was going to Castelfranco on business and he had to say goodbye to his wife.

* * * *

Though he hadn’t seen della Corte for some years, he recognized him the instant he walked into the Padova Questura: same dark eyes and unruly moustache.

Brunetti called to him and the policeman turned towards the sound of his name. ‘Guido,’ he said and walked over quickly. ‘How good to see you again.’

Talking of what they’d done during the last few years, they walked down to della Corte’s office. There, the talk of old cases continued over coffee and, when it was finished, they started to discuss the plans for that night. Delia Corte suggested they wait until after ten to leave Padova, which would get them to Castelfranco by eleven, when they were supposed to meet the local police, who had been told about Palmieri and had insisted they come along.

When they got to the Castelfranco Questura a few minutes before eleven, they were met by Commissario Bonino and two officers wearing jeans and leather jackets. They had prepared a map of the area surrounding the apartment where Palmieri lived, complete down to every detail: spaces in the parking lot beside the house, location of all of the doors in the building, even a floor plan of his apartment.

‘How did you get this?’ Brunetti asked, letting his admiration speak in his voice.

Bonino nodded to the younger of the policemen. ‘The building is only a few years old,’ he explained, ‘and I knew the plans would have to be down at the ufficio catasto, so I went there this afternoon and asked for a blueprint of the second floor. He’s on the third, but the layout is the same.’ He stopped talking and looked down at the blueprint, calling their attention back to it.

It appeared simple enough: a single staircase led up to a corridor. Palmieri’s apartment was at the end of the hall. All they had to do was place two men below his windows, one at the bottom of the stairs, and that left two to go in and two to work as back-up in the hallway. Brunetti was about to observe that seven seemed excessive, but then he remembered that Palmieri might have killed four men and said nothing.

Two cars parked a few hundred metres beyond the building and they all got out. The two young men in jeans had been chosen to go up to the apartment with Brunetti and della Corte, who would make the actual arrest. Bonino said he’d cover the stairs and the two from Padova moved off to take their places under the three fat pines that stood between the apartment building and the street, one man with a view of the front entrance, the other of the rear.

Brunetti, della Corte, and the two officers took the stairs. At the top they split up. The men in jeans stayed inside the stairwell, one propping open the door with his foot.

Brunetti and della Corte walked to Palmieri’s door. Silently, Brunetti tried the handle, but the door was locked. Delia Corte knocked twice, not loudly. Silence. He knocked again, louder this time. Then he called, ‘Ruggiero, it’s me. They sent me to get you. You’ve got to get out. The police are on the way.’

Inside, something fell over and smashed, probably a light. But none came from under the door. Delia Corte banged on it again. ‘Ruggiero, per l’amor di Dio, would you get out here. Move.’

Inside, there were more noises; something else fell, but this was heavy, a chair or a table. They heard shouts coming from below, probably the other policemen. At the sound of their voices both Brunetti and della Corte moved away from the doorway and stood with their backs against the wall.

And not a moment too soon. One, two more, then two further bullets tore through the thick wood of the door. Brunetti felt something sting his face and when he looked down he saw two drops of blood on the front of his coat. Suddenly the two young officers were kneeling on either side of the door, their pistols in their hands. Like an eel, one of them flipped over on to his back, pulled his legs up to his chest and, with piston-like force, slammed his feet into the door, just where it joined the jamb. The wood gave and his second kick sent it slamming open. Even before the door hit the inside wall, the man on the floor had spun himself like a top into the room.

Brunetti had barely raised his pistol when he heard two shots, then a third, ring out. After that, nothing. Seconds passed, then a man’s voice called, ‘All right, you can come in.’