She looked at him, neither of them having to remind the other that
Signora Moro had been shot one week before.
'And?' he asked.
'And that's all. The forms on file say that the parents had decided to
place her in a private school.'
'Where?' Brunetti asked.
'It's not necessary to mention that, I was told.'
'And didn't they ask?' he demanded, his irritation clear. 'Don't they
need to know where a child's going?'
The woman I spoke to said that all that's required is that the parents
complete and sign the proper forms, in duplicate Signorina Elettra
recited in what Brunetti assumed was the mechanical voice of whoever
she had spoken to.
'And a child's allowed to disappear and no questions asked?'
'I was told that the school's responsibility ends once the parents have
filled in the forms and the child's been taken from the school by one
of them.'
'Just like that?' he asked.
Signorina Elettra opened her hands in a gesture meant to show her own
lack of responsibility. This woman said she wasn't working there when
the girl was withdrawn, so the best she could do was try to explain the
regulations to me.' ,
'So where is she? A little girl can't just disappear,' Brunetti *
insisted.
'She could be anywhere, I suppose,' Signorina Elettra said, then added,
'But she's not in Siena.'
Brunetti shot her an inquiring glance.
'I called the police there, and then I had a look through the records
of the school system. There's no record for her, nor for any child of
the Ferros.'
'The mother's missing now, too Brunetti said and then went on to tell
her of his visit to her apartment and the inferences he had drawn from
the presence of the shirt.
Signorina Elettra's face paled and just as suddenly flushed. 'His
shirt?' she asked then, before he could answer, repeated the question,
'His shirt?'
'Yes/ Brunetti answered. He started to ask her what she thought of
this, but when he took a closer look at her face, he realized there was
only one man this could cause her to think of, and he spoke to fill the
painful silence that the memory of his loss brought into the room. 'Can
you think of a way to trace the child?' he finally said. When she
seemed not to hear him, he said, 'There's got to be a way to find her.
Some central register of children enrolled in schools, perhaps?'
As if returning from a long distance, Signorina Elettra said in a very
soft voice, 'Perhaps her medical records, or if she's in the Girl
Scouts.'
Before she could suggest anything else, Brunetti cut her off by saying,
There are her grandparents. They've got to have some idea of where she
is.'
'Do you know where they are?' Signorina Elettra asked with returning
interest.
'No, but both of the Moros are Venetian, so they should be here in the
city.'
Till see what I can find out was the only remark she permitted herself.
Then: 'By the way, sir, I found out about the girl who was supposedly
raped at the Academy.'
'Yes? How?'
'Friends from the past was the only explanation she provided. When she
saw that she had Brunetti's attention, Signorina Elettra went on. 'The
girl was thefidanzata of one of
the students, and he brought her back to his room one night. Somehow,
the captain of his class found out about it and went to the room. She
started screaming when he came in, and then someone called the police.
But there were never any charges and, from what I make of reading the
original report, probably no need for any.'
'I see,' he said, not bothering to ask her how she had found that
report so quickly. 'Tantofumo, poco arrosto.' As soon as he spoke he
was aware how his dismissal of the story would seem to her, and so
hastened to add, 'But thank God for the girl.'
Sounding not at all convinced by his piety, Signorina Elettra said
