Death Brings Gold. Nicola Rocca
âMartina Pilengaâ repeated Walker. Then, to Bassani. âTrack this woman down. I want to talk to her as soon as possible.â
âOK, Chief,â the other man replied.
Then Walker turned back to Belmondo.
âTake this,â he said, handing him a business card. âIf something else comes to mind â anything that might be useful to us, or that you think could be â donât hesitate to contact me.â
âI will,â said the man, feeling the tightness in his stomach had gone.
âYou can go now,â continued Walker, âbut donât disappear. I might still need you. And remember to come by Headquarters for a formal witness declaration,â
âI live just a few kilometres from here, Chief Inspector, and I have no intention of disappearingâ the other said, with a forced smile.
âBetter for everyone. Now try to recover, pull yourself together. You look distraught, Belmondo.â
Belmondo said thanks and bid farewell, before turning his back and leaving the flat.
âChief Inspector Walker?â a voice asked.
David turned.
âYes?â
âWeâre done. We need your authorisation to remove the body.â
âThese decisions can only be made by the Public Prosecutor.â He glanced at his watch. â Fini will be here shortly.â
When Antonio Fini entered the flat, he greeted everyone with a general nod of his head. Then he moved closer to Carrobbio, who was at a short distance from the body.
âHave you taken all the photos we need?â he asked, walking around the body.
âAll of them,â the other hurried to reply. âThe body, from different angles. From far and near. The room and most of all â¦â
He stopped talking: the coup de theatre that, he was sure, would have guaranteed him Finiâs complete attention.
âMost of all?â Fini urged him.
Carobbio moved closer.
âMost of all we have recovered three sets of fingerprints. One set certainly belongs to the victim. After all, this is his house. But the other two could tell us something more about his death.â
Fini noticed that the Forensic Inspector had grimaced when heâd mentioned the victimâs fingerprints, but consigned this detail to the compartment in his mind labelled âBullshitâ.
âSo, you will let me have a detailed account after receiving the results from the fingerprints.â
âOf course,â Carrobbio answered, although the Public Prosecutorâs question did not require an answer.
âGoodâ Fini added. âIâd say we can proceed with the removal of the body.â
Carobbio signalled his men who gathered around the body to lift it.
Fini moved over a few metres. He wanted to leave room for the specialists, but he needed breathing space to gather his thoughts. What was the motive that required the killer to dress up the victim with a gold necktie? And to arrange the victimâs arms in that strange position?
The world is changing , he thought. The crazies get even crazier.
The chattering of the personnel authorised to remove the body took his mind away from his thoughts.
â⦠a strange sound.â
âYes, I heard it too. Something must have fallen.â
âI havenât heard anything.â
Fini approached the four men. Chief Inspector Walker did the same.
âWhat happened?â Fini asked.
The Forensic men exchanged a series of conspiratorial glances. Then, the senior among them answered the question.
âNothing happened, Mr Fini. Itâs only that⦠while removing the body we heard a strange sound.â
Fini looked at him. âWhat kind of sound?â he asked.
The man thought about it for a moment.
âA metallic sound.â
âMetallic?â
âYes, something like that. But Iâm not sure. Someone heard it, someone else didnât. Soâ¦â
He left the rest of the sentence to his questionerâs imagination, who addressed them testily.
âWell, letâs find it, then. Letâs make this elusive object â the cause of that metallic sound-appear.â
The senior officer nodded, and so did the others.
Once the body had been placed in its transport bag, they all made space for the personnel who, without a word, placed it on a stretcher and quietly took it away. And then it was all about looking and rummaging. Looking for something they werenât even sure was there.
After less than ten minutes an answer came.
âMr Fini?â Gandolfi, the most senior specialist, called.
âYes?â Fini replied.
Gandolfi approached him and handed him a small plastic bag with something inside.
âThis is the elusive object that we heard falling from the victimâs bodyâ he said, with a hint of irony.
Fini signalled Walker to come and take a look at the content of the small plastic bag. Walker squinted his eyes trying to figure out what the object was and caught sight of a small white button with greenish and purplish pearl overtones.
âA metallic sound, right?â David said mockingly.
âClearly we were wrong,â jumped in Blaine, another Forensic specialist.
âYes,â Walker quickly agreed, handing Fini the small bag.
Gandolfi didnât even consider answering back, as he knew that moment wasnât going to be one of the highlights of his career.
Fini, after examining the button, gave it to the Forensic agent, asking him to check if it came from the dead manâs shirt.
âIâll make it a priority,â the agent replied.
Before leaving, Fini looked around for Inspector Carobbio. When he found him among the others, he moved closer and made his final request.
âInspector, please, Iâm counting on you to let me know as soon as possible both the results of what you find in this room and of the autopsy. Anything that can offer an explanation to this bizarre case.â
CHAPTER 6
âCome in.â
The door opened without a sound and detective Bassani peeped out into Walkerâs office.
The two men stood staring at each other. So? the Chiefâs eyes seem to shout.
Bassani looked away, as if for some strange reason he felt intimidated by the Chief Inspector.
âWeâve tracked down the widow Pilenga, Martinaâs mother, wife ofâ¦â
âGood. Well done.â Walker interrupted him abruptly. âWhere is she now?â