The eyes of Igor, watching him from the photograph, took life, asking him once again the reason why he had to agree to such a deal. With an almost imperceptible twitch of his lips, he placed the picture behind the one of Irina, hoping to find some shelter from those questioning eyes.
Yet, the only thing he found was the memory of the pleasure with which she convinced him to agree with the deal of having her father murdered on their way to France.
“I have no idea who they are, I don’t remember having seen any of them around or perhaps I haven’t noticed them,” Aldo said, handing the images back to Maurizio. “There are many people coming here every day as we tend to sell directly to the customers our fresh fish when we return at seven o’clock. During the day, people are coming and going, and it’s difficult to remember or to pay attention to anyone, unless they have some particular trait that grabs the attention.”
“Hmm...” muttered Maurizio, placing the photos back in his pocket.
“Who are they, by the way?” Aldo tried to pretend being interested in their identity, because he wanted to know whether they had any idea about the murder.
“The man is accused of murder, and we’re looking for him, hoping he didn’t make it to France, or Spain...”
“Have you checked on the ticket sale for the cruises? Could it be so and they both took one of those cruise ships?” Aldo tensed his shoulders, considering that, perhaps the police thought Igor escaped abroad. And without a corpse or any other evidence, there’s no way they could discover what happened that night, when I brought her to meet with Alec.
With a deep exhale, Aldo felt relaxed, and despite the turmoil with his conscience, he felt confident the police weren’t after him, and perhaps they never would be.
“I see … well, thank you anyway. I won’t waste your time any longer, but if you happen to remember anything, I would like you to call this number.” Maurizio handed him a business card with his name and telephone number. He seldom used a business card, but in that particular case, he needed to be the one he’d contact directly.
I’m not a psychologist, but I know when someone has something to say and can’t find the words or the courage to spit everything out, he thought.
Grabbing the card, he placed it absentmindedly in the pocket of his trousers, “I will. Have a nice day, detective,” he muttered as Maurizio turned his shoulders to him and climbed down the boat.
“They are hiding something,” Senior officer Milani whispered as they were leaving. “The other man almost tried to hide, fearing of being questioned. I don’t know whether they have something illegal in their activity or it was something connected to the case, but we need to keep an eye on them.”
Maurizio didn’t reply immediately, he was still processing in his mind the chat he had with Aldo and the vibes he had from his elusive behavior. He didn’t’ notice Mario, but what Senior officer Milani said about him fitted perfectly with the impressions he also had and shared with her.
His phone ringing startled him, and he almost was tempted to turn his face, wondering whether it was Aldo calling him. A slight disappointment darkened his expression as he read the caller ID, noticing the number of Leonardo.
“Tell me your news,” he answered, in a busy tone, walking toward the car.
“We’ve completed the search of the car, and we couldn’t find anything suspicious. Nevertheless, it was clear there were two people in the car and he was driving.” Leonardo replied without minding at the formalism. “Since Irina was with him in the apartment, we can conclude she was the passenger, and they have probably left the country together.”
That conclusion hit Maurizio right in his guts. Not that he didn’t have the same feeling, but he hoped he could have stopped them before. Although the Interpol, together with the French and Spanish Police were alerted, they’d wasted precious time allowing Igor to be safely hidden God-only-knew where. “I know. We asked the same guy we saw yesterday at the dock, and according to him, he hasn’t ever seen either Igor or Irina. He suggested we check the cruise ticket office, but we all know their passports hadn’t been recorded at any of the border control. Therefore, one option that comes to my mind is that they left the country illegally.”
“That’s the most feasible one but doesn’t give us any chance to get them back.” Leonardo grimaced, knowing they shouldn’t have underestimated the ease by which moving through the border could have given so many troubles when dealing with a crime. “What are you going to do now?”
“We need to play smart,” Maurizio looked around as if to grasp an idea from somewhere. “I’ll mobilize a few officers to follow every single step, track every phone call of Luciano Calvani and Madlen Fazekas. They are the only two who didn’t leave the country. I will release the funds for the insurance, and we’ll see what will happen. If any of them are connected to the crime, we will know and act immediately. We might have the chance to get the position of either Irina or Igor.”
Maurizio walked to the car mentally filing a list of things to do in the next few minutes. Turning to Senior officer Milani, he frowned, “Call Officers Mariani and Siri. Tell them both to follow Mr. Calvani like shadows. Never leave him alone, not even in the bathroom. I want a detailed report about what he’s doing, where he’s going, the people he’s meeting and his telephone calls at the end of each day. Nothing should be left unreported, and if anything suspicious should arise, I want to be notified immediately, so as to order a warrant
