“So, the case is closed?” Senior officer Milani asked.
“No, the case isn’t closed until all the suspects have been interrogated. Once we are sure that there isn’t anyone else who can be connected to the crime, we can close and archive the case,” Maurizio explained. “But we are close to it, and it took a reasonable time to reach this stage. At the moment we can only say we will take the case once again in our hands after we receive any news from the Hungarian magistrate.”
He realized they were once again among the last to leave the office. Nevertheless, there was a positive note in it, and it was that although they were the last ones to leave, he could still make it on time to have dinner at home, instead of skipping it one more time.
“We’ll continue tomorrow as we wait for any news about Irina, the Interpol about Igor.” He grabbed his jacket and put his computer on pause. He was supposed to check on the reports of the surveillance teams who were following Luciano and Madlen during the day, but he considered that a task that could have been carried out from the computer at home.
He wasn’t expecting anything new to happen in the immediate future. Generally, it takes some time before obtaining interesting news. A smile brightened on his face.
“See you tomorrow, Officer Milani,” he said, greeting Sandra.
“See you tomorrow, Commissario!”
He sent a fast message to his wife, Anna, and rushed to the parking lot.
***
Since he returned to live in the home he shared with his father, Luciano didn’t seem to have regained any ease in life. Browsing the TV, the sounds seemed to echo louder within the walls.
I thought I was accustomed to be alone in this house, as you have always been away for one reason or another. Yet, the knowledge that you’re not going to be back brought a feeling of loneliness, I’m not yet used to, Luciano thought still zapping from one channel to another.
Leaning his head back on the couch, he closed his eyes, remaining to listen to the noises coming from the streets and other apartments. Everything was quiet as if the whole world held its breath, waiting for something to happen.
It was a week since he decided to enter gradually in the leading of the family business. The help offered by his mother and the close cooperators of his father was priceless. Without them, he would have been in deep trouble, understanding all the details and the secrets to run it successfully.
He hadn’t yet come to a decision whether it would have been reasonable to quit the University studies and focus entirely on the family business.
“There shouldn’t be any problem to keep going in this direction. I can continue my studies and work part-time on the firm...” He opened his eyes, almost surprised to hear his voice in the emptiness of the house. “I don’t know, but I need to make a decision soon, and perhaps tomorrow I can have a talk with my mother and also with my mentors in the firm.”
Standing from the couch, he walked to the window to watch the city, slowly falling asleep. “I miss her,” he whispered, thinking about Irina.
The new responsibilities forced him to withdraw from the social life he’d enjoyed before the murder of his father. Although this wasn’t the way he’d expected his life to turn out, he was also aware this was the way it was supposed to become sooner or later. And in this case, it was absolutely better to be sooner, than later.
His eyes searched the room and met the telephone lying on the table in front of the couch. Hesitatingly, he grabbed it and remained staring at it for long moments, wondering whether it would have been too late to call Irina.
As indecision stopped him from dialing her number, he decided simply to send her a message, and considering that the morning after he needed to be at work earlier than usual, he reached the bedroom.
Walking in front of his father’s bedroom, he stepped inside. All of his belongings were still there in a box, as he didn’t have the time to put them back in order, after the police concluded the search. There wasn’t a steady thought in his mind, but he sauntered to the bed, where the boxes were and found Claudio’s mobile phone.
Holding it in his hands, he found it surprising that he didn’t have any particular feeling at its touch. Slowly, he went through his father’s belongings, something he didn’t have the time to do before, or perhaps he tried to find all the possible excuses to avoid that task in the past days, since he got the keys returned.
There were all his clothes, the expensive watches he liked to collect... “All those things need to be gifted to some charity organizations. Someone might need those more than I do,” he considered almost whispering within himself.
With a long exhale, he stood from the bed and walked to his room, ready to end the day, hoping to have the chance to talk to Irina soon. That forced separation was something he wished to bring to an end.
From the civil police car parked outside the building Officer Cattaneo and Marchesi kept an eye on the movements inside the apartment. As the lights switched off, Officer Cattaneo smirked, lowering the binoculars on his lap. “He probably went to sleep,” he said.
“Good for him, I wish I could do the same,” growled Officer Marchesi. “I’m wondering what we are doing here. It
