killing him, had been the last straw and had resulted in an unprecedented outburst of anti-Sardinian feeling that involved not just the affected area but the whole city. The 'Sardinian problem' became the chief subject of conversation in every bar, drawing-room and noble palace in the city.
What I say is, if they want to live here they should live like us, not sleep outside on that mountain like animals.
I never realized there were any that near, I thought they were all in the Mugello region . . .
I remember when my husband was alive and we had a Sardinian couple with some unpronounceable name and it took me three months to teach her to make tea properly. I don't think she ever let the water boil.
I had an aunt who rented afield to a shepherd. The one who left me that brooch you always liked. So simpatico, / thought. I was only about ten. He used to pay with cheese . . .
Lorenzo was in Sardinia last month. He wanted to see Gari-baldi's house. He gets so easily depressed that I'm happy if anything will distract him.
You should suggest he visit Portugal. Italy wouldn 't have any of the problems she has if the King were still here.
Few people mentioned the kidnapping. There had been nothing about it on the television news since the day the car was found.
'Who's the man they arrested for the throat-slitting?' The Substitute lit a cigar and began to fold the newspaper neatly and rapidly.
'Garau. A regular customer of ours. Very shifty.'
'He's not on your list of suspects?'
'Frankly, apart from Antonio Demontis, the terrible brother, who's being watched, we don't have any real suspects—though I'd very much like to know where Piladu's son and Scano's boy have got to. There's a young plain-clothes man working on it but he has to go slowly. He's infiltrated the group and is buying regular small doses but he can't start asking questions too soon.'
'Is it the same bar?'
'As the stabbing? Yes, but they all go there.'
'Not much chance of finding out what that fight was about?'
'None whatever. And still nothing from the Consulate. No contact.'
'Do you think she's dead?'
'Not yet . . .'
'What about the Nilsen girl?'
'If anything, she's more nervous since she came out of hospital. Probably she feels more at risk. It's not easy to take up your life again when it's been so brutally interrupted. She's still in regular contact with Sub-lieutenant Bacci and I have every hope that he'll gain her confidence.'
After considering this aspect of the case for some moments the Substitute remarked: 'You chose your man well.'
'Yes. His English is excellent and he's very conscientious.'
The Substitute hid the faintest of smiles by drawing very deliberately on his cigar.
The Adjutant knocked and came in.
'Sub-lieutenant Bacci to see you, sir.'
'Send him in.'
As Bacci emerged through the blue fog that had collected near the door it occurred to the Captain that if Fusarri had been the normal sort of Substitute he would have had to go and report to him at his office, leaving his own smoke-free. But by this time the Captain had grown used to living in a blue haze. He motioned the young officer to sit down.
'You have something for me?'
'Yes. I've had to piece it together over the last three days. The information only came out bit by bit since she's still not easy in her mind about talking to us. I suppose she's afraid of anything happening to her friend as a result. I'm not even sure if what I've managed to get will be all that useful . . .'
'Go on.'
'Well, they were blindfolded before they got out of their own car that morning, as you know. Even so, I thought it was worth persisting, trying to get her to remember noises, smells, anything that would give us a clue to where they were taken. It seems that when they were made to lie down in the back of the truck and their hands were tied behind them, Katrine remembers there being rags underneath her. Some of them smelt of oil or grease of a kind she didn't recognize. I gave her a few
What I say is, if they want to live here they should live like us, not sleep outside on that mountain like animals.
I never realized there were any that near, I thought they were all in the Mugello region . . .
I remember when my husband was alive and we had a Sardinian couple with some unpronounceable name and it took me three months to teach her to make tea properly. I don't think she ever let the water boil.
I had an aunt who rented afield to a shepherd. The one who left me that brooch you always liked. So simpatico, / thought. I was only about ten. He used to pay with cheese . . .
Lorenzo was in Sardinia last month. He wanted to see Gari-baldi's house. He gets so easily depressed that I'm happy if anything will distract him.
You should suggest he visit Portugal. Italy wouldn 't have any of the problems she has if the King were still here.
Few people mentioned the kidnapping. There had been nothing about it on the television news since the day the car was found.
'Who's the man they arrested for the throat-slitting?' The Substitute lit a cigar and began to fold the newspaper neatly and rapidly.
'Garau. A regular customer of ours. Very shifty.'
'He's not on your list of suspects?'
'Frankly, apart from Antonio Demontis, the terrible brother, who's being watched, we don't have any real suspects—though I'd very much like to know where Piladu's son and Scano's boy have got to. There's a young plain-clothes man working on it but he has to go slowly. He's infiltrated the group and is buying regular small doses but he can't start asking questions too soon.'
'Is it the same bar?'
'As the stabbing? Yes, but they all go there.'
'Not much chance of finding out what that fight was about?'
'None whatever. And still nothing from the Consulate. No contact.'
'Do you think she's dead?'
'Not yet . . .'
'What about the Nilsen girl?'
'If anything, she's more nervous since she came out of hospital. Probably she feels more at risk. It's not easy to take up your life again when it's been so brutally interrupted. She's still in regular contact with Sub-lieutenant Bacci and I have every hope that he'll gain her confidence.'
After considering this aspect of the case for some moments the Substitute remarked: 'You chose your man well.'
'Yes. His English is excellent and he's very conscientious.'
The Substitute hid the faintest of smiles by drawing very deliberately on his cigar.
The Adjutant knocked and came in.
'Sub-lieutenant Bacci to see you, sir.'
'Send him in.'
As Bacci emerged through the blue fog that had collected near the door it occurred to the Captain that if Fusarri had been the normal sort of Substitute he would have had to go and report to him at his office, leaving his own smoke-free. But by this time the Captain had grown used to living in a blue haze. He motioned the young officer to sit down.
'You have something for me?'
'Yes. I've had to piece it together over the last three days. The information only came out bit by bit since she's still not easy in her mind about talking to us. I suppose she's afraid of anything happening to her friend as a result. I'm not even sure if what I've managed to get will be all that useful . . .'
'Go on.'
'Well, they were blindfolded before they got out of their own car that morning, as you know. Even so, I thought it was worth persisting, trying to get her to remember noises, smells, anything that would give us a clue to where they were taken. It seems that when they were made to lie down in the back of the truck and their hands were tied behind them, Katrine remembers there being rags underneath her. Some of them smelt of oil or grease of a kind she didn't recognize. I gave her a few
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