'Why?'
Giuliano looked straight at Brunetti as he said, 'I was
afraid', and Brunetti was struck by how much courage it took for him to
say that.
'And since then?'
Giuliano shook his head again. 'I don't know. I stopped going to
classes and stayed in my room most of the time. The only people I
talked to were you and then that policeman who came to the bar, the
nice one.'
'What made you leave?'
'One of them, not Filippi, but one of the others, saw me talking to the
policeman, and he remembered him from when he was asking questions at
the Academy, and then Filippi told me if I talked to the police I
better watch out...' His voice trailed off, leaving the sentence
unfinished. He took a deep breath and added, 'He said I should be
careful and that talking to the police could drive a person to suicide,
and then he laughed.' He waited to see what effect this would have on
Brunetti, and then said, 'So I left. I just walked out and came
home.'
'And you're not going back his aunt startled them both by interrupting.
She got to her feet, took two steps towards her nephew, and stopped.
Looking across at Brunetti, she said, 'No more. Please, no more of
this.'
'All right,' Brunetti agreed, standing. For a moment, he debated
whether to tell the boy he would have to make a formal statement, but
this was not the time to try to force anything from him, especially not
with his aunt present. In future, they could deny that this
conversation had taken place or they could admit it. Which they chose
to do was irrelevant to Brunetti: what interested him was the
information he had obtained.
As they made their way back to the front hall, he heard the deep,
comforting bass of Vianello's voice, interspersed with a light female
warbling. When Brunetti and the others entered the room, Giuliano's
mother turned to greet them, her face aglow with joy. Vianello stood
in the middle of the room, a
wicker basket full of brown eggs dangling from his right hand.
Giuliano's mother pointed to Vianello and said, 'Friend
On the way back to Venice, Brunetti explained that, although they now
had enough to warrant calling the Filippi boy in for questioning, he
would prefer them to dedicate their energies to seeing what they could
find out about his father.
Vianello surprised him by suggesting he take a few hours the next day
to have a look on the Internet to see what he could discover. Brunetti
forbore from comment on his phrase, 'have a look', which sounded to him
like vintage Signorina Elettra, when he considered the relief that
would come to him if someone other than Signorina Elettra, someone to
whom he was less beholden by the heavy demands of past favours, were to
be the one to discover sensitive information.
'How will you do it?' he asked Vianello.
Keeping his eyes on the traffic that filled the roads leading towards
Venice, Vianello said, The same way Signorina Elettra does: see what I
can find and then see what my friends can find.'
'Are they the same friends as hers?' Brunetti asked.
At this question, Vianello took his eyes from the road and permitted
himself a quick glance in Brunetti's direction. 'I suppose.'
Then perhaps it would be faster to ask Signorina Elettra/ a defeated
Brunetti suggested.
He did so the following morning, stepping into her office and asking
her if her military friend was back from Livorno and, if so, whether he
would allow her to have a look at their files. As if she had known
upon rising that the day would cause her to engage the military,
Signorina Elettra wore a dark blue sweater with small buttoned tabs on
the shoulders not unlike epaulettes.
'You wouldn't.happen to be wearing a sword, would you?' Brunetti
asked.
'No, sir she answered, 'I find it very inconvenient for daytime wear.'
Smiling, she pressed a swift series of keys on her computer, paused a
moment, then said, 'He'll start working on it now.'
Brunetti went back to his office.
He read two newspapers, calling it work, while he waited for her, then
made a few phone calls, not attempting to justify them as anything
other than maintaining good relations with people who might some day be
asked to provide him with information.
When there had been no sign of Signorina Elettra before lunchtime, he
left the Questura without calling her, though he did call Paola to say
he would not be home for lunch. He went to da Remigio and ate insalata
