The Dance of the Seagull

11

While leaving the building, he was thinking that Manzella’s departure was not a simple change of residence, but looked a lot like the sudden flight of someone who wanted to vanish without a trace.

He moved the car just enough to avoid arousing the curiosity of the people in the building, then pulled over and took the letters out of his pocket.

The first one had been sent from Palermo and was signed, “Your loving sister, Luciana.” It was one long whinefest: the ninety-year-old mother needed assistance; Luciana’s husband was a dissolute pervert; the son had lost his head chasing after a girl who seemed like a saint but in fact was a real slut, to the point that she made him buy the panties she wore . . .

In short, the sister was hitting him up for money.

The second letter was from a certain Sebastiano and sent from Messina. He said things were going well, he’d got his head straightened out and had finally found the love of his life. Of whom he’d attached a photograph. It showed a young man in a Navy uniform, about twenty-five years old, with a low brow, stick-out ears, and a horsey face.

He must have been about six-foot-three and was so well built that he looked like an athlete, though his legs were so bowed they practically formed a circle.

Montalbano thought that love, as we know, is blind.

The third and last letter, posted in Vigàta, he read twice in a row.

Then he drove off, dropped in at the station, put the first two letters in a drawer of his desk and the third in his jacket pocket. Then he left and headed home to Marinella.

The night was soft and clear and windless. And the moon, instead of resting over the orchards, was floating on the sea. Autumn felt perhaps that its days were numbered and was surrendering to its end with a sort of melancholy and slightly distracted languor, letting itself be invaded, without resistance, by days and nights already springlike. Sitting out on the veranda, Montalbano had scarfed down a huge dish of pasta ’ncasciata that Adelina had left for him in the oven. Normally it was a lunch dish, but luckily his housekeeper had never made any distinction between things that were better for lunch and things that were better for dinner. And sometimes the inspector suffered the consequences. As would certainly be the case that night, since digesting pasta ’ncasciata sometimes led to nocturnal battles. Sighing, he stood up, went into the house, and sat down at the table on which he’d left the letter addressed to Filippo Manzella, and read it for the third time.

Ippo,

Would you please tell me why you suddenly don’t want to see me any longer?

I’ve tried to reach you dozens of times on your cell phone, but you won’t ever pick up. Why? I think someone may have told you wicked things about me, totally invented lies, and you, silly man, believed them. The Fiacca story, if they told you about it, was nothing. Aside from the fact that I miss you, I think we absolutely need to meet and clear things up. There could be consequences. It’s in your own interest. Get it?

So give me a ring. G.

The first problem presented by the letter, which was sent from Vigàta to another address in Vigàta and written in perfect Italian, was in the final lines, where there was a menacing shift in tone. If Manzella wanted to break things off with his girlfriend G, why did G write that there might be consequences? At any rate, it was clear that Manzella stood to lose everything from these “consequences.” Was it to avoid such unpleasant consequences that Manzella had fled his apartment without leaving a forwarding address? By the same token, he must have sold the car so that nobody could trace the license plate back to the owner.

The second problem was that the letter didn’t quite add up. The overall tone didn’t make sense. Nothing indicated with any certainty that G was a woman, since the handwriting could have been either feminine or masculine. And a woman who’d just been abandoned by a man with whom she’d had a relationship would have used different, somewhat more passionate words. But if it was a man . . . Would a man have ever used expressions like “wicked things”? Or “silly man”?

What would he, Montalbano, have written? He thought of words like bullshit, crap, slander, gossip . . . No, “wicked things” was not something a man would say. Nor was “silly man” a manly expression. It was probably best to bring the letter with him when he went to Montelusa Central. He could ask Gargiulo in the Forensics department, who was a good handwriting analyst, for help.

The inspector went to bed after a long telephone conversation with Livia, which ended on a positive note. But he had an infernal night, all because of the pasta ’ncasciata.

“You look a little pale today. Everything all right in the bosom of the family?” asked that colossal pain in the ass, Dr. Lattes, chief of the commissioner’s cabinet, who never set foot outside of his boss’s waiting room and was always there, ready to bust the balls of every poor wretch who entered.

“Everyone’s fine, with thanks to the Blessed Virgin.”

“His honor the commissioner is waiting for you.”

He’d been very punctual. Bonetti-Alderighi seemed solicitous, and even stood up.

“Carissimo! Please sit down. How are you? All better now? You look a little pale.”

Of course he was pale! He hadn’t slept a wink because of the pasta ’ncasciata!

“Well, the aftereffects of the Super Scrockson are devastating, since the tube is inserted into—”

“For heaven’s sake, spare me the details. Anyway, I don’t want you to get tired out. Just tell me what happened.”

“Mr. Commissioner, sir, I have very little to tell you, which is why I didn’t file a report. In a few words, I received an anonymous tip concerning some suspected drug traffic passing through the port and sent Inspector Fazio to go and check it out. As far as we know, as soon as he got there, he got shot and wounded in the head, and then disappeared. Later we learned, from an anonymous phone call, that Fazio’d been seen with two men in the area of the Three Wells. They intended to kill him. I called the fire department, and they pulled two corpses out of two different wells, but Fazio was still nowhere to be found.”

“Did you inform the prosecutor of these discoveries?” the commissioner interrupted him.

“Of course. And Forensics and Dr. Pasquano as well. All in order.”

“And then what?”

“Then Fazio was spotted on the road to Fiacca.”

“Who spotted him?”

“A . . . colleague from the police department there who knew him.”

“Go on.”

“Fazio was wandering about. I caught up to him, but he didn’t recognize me, so I took him to the hospital in Fiacca, where he’s still a patient. They had to operate on him.”

“Have you gone to see him? Has he told you anything?”

“I haven’t gone there yet, because the doctors told me, over the phone, that he hasn’t recovered his memory yet. He can’t remember anything at all. It’s going to take some time.”

“Are the doctors sure his memory will return to full function?”

“Absolutely.”

They talked for another ten minutes, then the commissioner said:

“Keep me informed.”

Which meant that the discussion was over. Montalbano had told him a blend of lies and truth but, more importantly, he had managed, with the story of Fazio’s amnesia, to make sure that nobody would go and bother Fazio at the hospital. All in all, however, the commissioner, perhaps worried he might aggravate the effects of the Super Scrockson if he was mean to Montalbano, had been rather understanding.

The inspector went to the Forensics lab, hoping not to run into the chief, Vanni Arquà, whom he didn’t like. He didn’t see him anywhere, but neither did he see Gargiulo.

“Looking for someone, Inspector?” asked a youngster from the staff.

“Yes, Gargiulo.”

“He’s not coming in today. Try again tomorrow.”

“Could you do me a favor?”

“Sure.”

Montalbano took G’s letter to Manzella out of his pocket.

“Could you give him this for me and ask him to have a look at it? Tell him I’ll give a ring tomorrow.”

He went out of the building. There was a bar just around the corner. He ordered an espresso, and as they were making it, he checked the telephone book. Filippo Manzella lived at 28, Via Croce. That is, on the opposite side of town. Going there by car was out of the question. Montelusa was actually a labyrinth of streets and alleys forever broken up by ongoing road work and one-ways. He decided to go to Via Croce on foot, nice and slow, since he had all the time in the world. The appointment with Signora Manzella wasn’t till eleven.

The apartment was on the fifth floor of a tall eight-story building. It was small but sparkling clean and in perfect order. Signora Manzella sat him down in the living room and asked if he’d like some coffee. Montalbano declined, asking only for a glass of water. The walk there had been long and all uphill.

The lady, who told him her name was Ernestina, was nice-looking, about forty-five, primly dressed, and must have been a pretty girl in her youth. And she seemed like a thinking person. It was she who opened the discussion.

“Now tell me sincerely,” she said, “this story of the fine, you completely made that up, didn’t you?”

Montalbano breathed a sigh of relief. It was better to show his hand.

“Yes. How did you know?”

“A police inspector isn’t going to bother to come all the way to my home for a simple traffic ticket.”

Montalbano smiled and said nothing.

“What’s happened to Filippo?” Signora Ernestina asked.

But she didn’t seem particularly worried.

“We don’t know.”

“Then why are you interested in him?”

“Because he’s disappeared.”

Ernestina smiled.

“But the man is always disappearing! It’s an innate habit of his! A week, two weeks, a month! Even during our first year of marriage he would sometimes tell me he had to leave the next day without saying where, and he would vanish. And the whole time he was away, he never phoned me even once.”

“Did you ever ask him why he went away?”

“Of course! Hundreds of times! And without fail, he would say it was ‘for business.’ But I never believed it. You want my advice? Stop looking for him. You’ll see, sooner or later he’ll turn up.”

“Signora, I think the problem is a lot more complex than that.”

“What do you mean?”

“I can’t really tell you anything right now, but I came here because I need to ask you a few questions.”

“All right, go ahead.”

“When did the two of you get married?”

“Eighteen years ago.”

“Were you in love with each other?”

“It seemed like love at the time.”

“If I remember correctly, you said you have a son.”

“Yes, Michele. He’s in his third year of high school.”

“As far as you know, have Michele and his father continued to see each other since the separation? What I mean is, to see each other of their own free will, beyond the prearranged meetings.”

“Up until his second year in high school, they saw each other rather often. Sometimes Filippo would go and pick him up after school. But then Michele didn’t want to see him anymore.”

“Why not?”

“He wouldn’t tell me. He said they’d had a fight. But, at any rate, I was pleased.”

“Why?”

“I was always worried Filippo might have a bad influence on him.”

“In what sense?”

“When he was young, Filippo was a ballet dancer. Do you know what it means here when people say someone’s a dancer?”

“Yes, it means he’s fickle, whimsical, moody . . .”

“That’s exactly right: fickle. Filippo was fickle in everything: friendship, affection . . . and even little things. His preferences would change overnight. He’d be crazy for ice cream, and then one day he’d stop eating it and claim he’d never liked it. It really wasn’t easy living with him.”

“What did he do for a living when you got married?”

“He was a clerk at Town Hall. He had a decent salary, enough to live on. Nothing lavish, mind you, but anyway . . . He worked there for five years. It was like he’d turned over a new leaf.”

“Then what happened?”

“Then his father’s brother died, Zio Carlo, and left him everything he had, which was rather a lot.”

“Why all to him?”

“Filippo never talked to me about his uncle, and I never met him. He didn’t even come to our wedding.”

“How many brothers and sisters does your ex-husband have?”

“Two sisters. One of them, Luciana, has stayed in touch with him, always asking for money. The other one, Elvira, I don’t know anything about.”

“What did this inheritance consist of?”

“Mostly houses, shops, warehouses, and a very well-functioning farm.”

“Excuse me for interrupting, but isn’t it possible your husband’s constant trips had something to do with these business concerns?”

Ernestina smiled again.

“Are you kidding? Do you really think Filippo wanted those kinds of problems? He sold everything and put all the money in the bank.”

“Which bank?”

“More than one. At the one bank I knew about, the Banca Cooperativa, both our names were on the account. He would put in enough money for us to get by each year. I have no idea where he kept the rest of it.”

“What led to the breakup?”

“He started losing interest in me. Completely, if you know what I mean. I was nobody for him anymore. Or, rather, I was the mother of his son, but as a woman, I was nothing. I wasn’t there. I believe that was when he began to cheat on me and have a number of different lovers.”

“How did you find out?”

“I didn’t. I said: ‘I believe.’ But he started doing the usual things that I’m sure you know all about.”

“I’m not married, signora.”

“Oh. Well, mysterious phone calls, vague appointments, contradictions, nonexistent meetings. That sort of thing. In the end I got fed up and kicked him out. And there you have it.”

“In that Vigàta apartment you mentioned to us, we found an enormous telescope.”

Ernestina showed no surprise.

“It was one of his manias.”

“Did he look at the stars?”

Ernestina gave a long laugh.

“Would you come with me please?”

She stood up, and the inspector followed her into the bedroom. The window looked out onto a courtyard with a great many balconies and windows large and small giving onto it.

“Have you ever seen that film where a man with a broken leg spends his days spying on other people through the window?”

“Rear Window, Hitchcock.”

“My husband used to do the same thing. I would watch television, and he would watch what others were doing in their homes.”

“And what did he tell you?”

“About what?”

“About what the others were doing in their homes.”

“Ah, well! That was all he ever wanted to talk about. The newlywed bride ushering her lover into the house was his favorite character. Another favorite was the old pensioner who would sneak into his granddaughter’s room the moment his wife fell asleep. But I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction—I really don’t like that sort of thing.”

“I’m sorry, signora, but I have to ask you a difficult question. When he did these things, did he always remain only an observer?”

Ernestina must not have grasped the real meaning of the question.

“Why? What else could he do?”

“You know, sometimes in cases like this, the desire to intervene, to upset the normal course of other people’s lives, becomes very strong. It’s hard to resist the temptation.”

Ernestina finally got it.

“You mean blackmail?”

“Yes, but not only. You can also intervene just for fun.”

“How?”

“Let me give you an example. I see the young housewife letting her lover into the apartment, and so I write an anonymous letter to the husband and then sit back and enjoy what happens next.”

“You call that fun?”

“No, I don’t, personally, but some people might.”

Ernestina paused to think about this for a few moments, opened her mouth to speak, closed it again, then finally spoke.

“I really don’t think Filippo would ever be capable of blackmailing someone. I suppose he might do something just for the wicked fun of it. But he wasn’t a bad person inside, you shouldn’t think that. You’ve never met him. He’s . . .”

“Well, it’s precisely because I’ve never met him that I’m asking you these questions. You were saying he’s . . .”

“Unpredictable, that’s it.”

They returned to the living room. But Montalbano didn’t sit back down.

“Pardon me for asking, signora, but do you live on what your ex-husband gives you, or do you work?”

“Afternoons I work as a sales clerk in a clothing store. And I have a gentleman friend. We’re going to get married as soon as the divorce is settled.”

She said this without hesitation, and Montalbano appreciated her sincerity.

“Then I guess I have nothing more to ask you. I’ll be on my way. But if by any chance your husband gets in touch with you, please call me at once at Vigàta Police. You’ve been very kind.”

“I’ll show you out.”

As Montalbano was descending the first stair and Ernestina was closing the door, he suddenly wanted to ask her another question, something that had been left hanging.

“I’m sorry, signora, but you said that the telescope was one of your husband’s manias. What were the others?”

“He had one other: his feet. He was constantly fussing over them, doing his own pedicures.”

A bolt of lightning paralyzed the inspector. He stood there with his body half rotated, head turned all the way around, left foot raised above the second stair, right hand gripping the banister. He couldn’t move. Signora Ernestina got worried.

“Inspector, do you feel all right?” she asked, coming out onto the landing.

“Wha . . . wha . . .” Montalbano stammered. Then he caught his breath and managed to speak.

“Why did your husband give up dancing?”

“He had an accident. He ruptured a ligament.”

Montalbano very nearly rolled down the stairs.

“And so, if Manzella had been in the well for five days, then the phone call to Fazio was a trap.”

“Jesus, Mimì, you’re getting so sharp you’re becoming dangerous!”

“You told me Fazio didn’t believe what Manzella was telling him. Whereas it was all true.”

“Another staggering conclusion, Mimì.”

“Salvo, you know what I say to you? I’m just gonna stop talking. I’m sick of this shit.”

“Let me ask you a question. That way you’ll be forced to say something a little less idiotic. In your opinion, why did they shoot one of his feet?”

“One of whose feet?”

“Manzella’s. Didn’t I tell you? No? First they shot him in the foot, then they let him bleed for a few hours, and in the end they killed him. The question is: why’d they do it?”

“To make him talk.”

“All right, Mimì, but that’s not what I’m asking. Why in the foot? Normally to make somebody talk, you burn his hand with a cigarette or you shoot him in the knee or the arm . . .”

“Maybe the gun of one of the guys interrogating him went off by accident.”

“You’re cold, Mimì.”

“Maybe he had a thing about his feet, maybe he took good care of them . . .”

“You’re getting warmer, Mimì.”

“’Cause he used to be a ballet dancer!”

“Bravo, Mimì! You see? When you put your mind to it, you can be intelligent! They shot him in the part of his body he cared most about. To humiliate him.”