motionless.
Signorina Elettra fast-forwarded the video, and the two men moved to the side of the bridge with the jerky animation of speeded-up film. Twice one of them hurried to kneel beside the shape, which did not move. Then both heads whipped to the left at the same time, after which two more men, dressed in black, hurried on to the scene.
She leaned forward and touched a key, and things returned to normal speed. The men in black knelt beside the shape, which appeared to move. One of the carabinieri put his hand on the woman’s shoulder and bent over her, speaking into her ear. The shape stopped moving.
Again Signorina Elettra fast-forwarded the tape: one of the uniformed officers leaped to his feet in defiance of the law of gravity; then the other did the same. All at once the screen filled with figures as two men in white uniforms arrived with a stretcher. They appeared to speak to the carabiniere who was not speaking with the other two men, then they ran to the top of the bridge and set down the stretcher. Signorina Elettra slowed things down and the white-uniformed men carried the woman to the top of the bridge, one of the carabiniere following close behind. The men lowered her to the stretcher then lifted it and disappeared with her at the bottom left of the screen.
She touched another key, and the figures on the screen froze as in a children’s game.
‘May I see the scene where she falls again, please?’ Brunetti asked.
Signorina Elettra did as he requested, and again they watched the young woman fail to block her fall. They saw her arm give way and her head crash against the edge of the step.
‘Again, please,’ Brunetti requested, and they started from the beginning. This time he ignored – or tried to ignore – the falling woman and looked behind her for any sign of motion. There was something.
‘Can you slow it down?’ he asked.
She started it again, and this time the young woman looked as though she were falling under water, floating down to make elegant contact with the surface that would break her arm and cut open her head.
Brunetti ignored this and studied the top of the bridge behind her. And he saw it again: a dark vertical bar that came into sight from behind, then swirled away, to be followed immediately by something thin and striped and horizontal. It flashed out from the top of the place where the vertical bar had been, and was then sucked back to the left.
Signorina Elettra sent the scene back to the beginning, and they watched the same apparitions: first the dark vertical and then the striped horizontal, both appearing from the same place and returning there.
She hit the keys and it started again, and then again.
When the slow-motion scene stopped the fourth time, leaving only a few centimetres of the disappearing horizontal image, she froze the last image and turned to Brunetti to ask, ‘What do you think it is?’
‘A coat and a scarf,’ he said with no hesitation. ‘He walked across the top of the bridge, took a look at what he’d done, then turned around and walked back down the other side.’ He leaned forward and touched the screen with his finger. ‘That’s his scarf swirling out to the side.’
‘Bastard,’ Signorina Elettra whispered, the first time in all these years that he had heard her use strong language. ‘He could have killed her.’
‘Maybe he thought he had,’ Brunetti said in a grim tone.
12
Signorina Elettra remained silent, staring at the last wave of horizontal lines. She rested her chin on her palm and continued to study it. ‘There’s not much else it could be, is there?’ she finally agreed. She leaned closer, hit a key, and the picture on the screen suddenly grew larger. ‘Look,’ she said, ‘you can even see the fringe.’
Brunetti bent closer and saw that she was right. He stepped back, put his hands into his pockets, and stared at the image on the screen, working out what might have happened. ‘She fell from the top of the
Signorina Elettra fast-forwarded the video, and the two men moved to the side of the bridge with the jerky animation of speeded-up film. Twice one of them hurried to kneel beside the shape, which did not move. Then both heads whipped to the left at the same time, after which two more men, dressed in black, hurried on to the scene.
She leaned forward and touched a key, and things returned to normal speed. The men in black knelt beside the shape, which appeared to move. One of the carabinieri put his hand on the woman’s shoulder and bent over her, speaking into her ear. The shape stopped moving.
Again Signorina Elettra fast-forwarded the tape: one of the uniformed officers leaped to his feet in defiance of the law of gravity; then the other did the same. All at once the screen filled with figures as two men in white uniforms arrived with a stretcher. They appeared to speak to the carabiniere who was not speaking with the other two men, then they ran to the top of the bridge and set down the stretcher. Signorina Elettra slowed things down and the white-uniformed men carried the woman to the top of the bridge, one of the carabiniere following close behind. The men lowered her to the stretcher then lifted it and disappeared with her at the bottom left of the screen.
She touched another key, and the figures on the screen froze as in a children’s game.
‘May I see the scene where she falls again, please?’ Brunetti asked.
Signorina Elettra did as he requested, and again they watched the young woman fail to block her fall. They saw her arm give way and her head crash against the edge of the step.
‘Again, please,’ Brunetti requested, and they started from the beginning. This time he ignored – or tried to ignore – the falling woman and looked behind her for any sign of motion. There was something.
‘Can you slow it down?’ he asked.
She started it again, and this time the young woman looked as though she were falling under water, floating down to make elegant contact with the surface that would break her arm and cut open her head.
Brunetti ignored this and studied the top of the bridge behind her. And he saw it again: a dark vertical bar that came into sight from behind, then swirled away, to be followed immediately by something thin and striped and horizontal. It flashed out from the top of the place where the vertical bar had been, and was then sucked back to the left.
Signorina Elettra sent the scene back to the beginning, and they watched the same apparitions: first the dark vertical and then the striped horizontal, both appearing from the same place and returning there.
She hit the keys and it started again, and then again.
When the slow-motion scene stopped the fourth time, leaving only a few centimetres of the disappearing horizontal image, she froze the last image and turned to Brunetti to ask, ‘What do you think it is?’
‘A coat and a scarf,’ he said with no hesitation. ‘He walked across the top of the bridge, took a look at what he’d done, then turned around and walked back down the other side.’ He leaned forward and touched the screen with his finger. ‘That’s his scarf swirling out to the side.’
‘Bastard,’ Signorina Elettra whispered, the first time in all these years that he had heard her use strong language. ‘He could have killed her.’
‘Maybe he thought he had,’ Brunetti said in a grim tone.
12
Signorina Elettra remained silent, staring at the last wave of horizontal lines. She rested her chin on her palm and continued to study it. ‘There’s not much else it could be, is there?’ she finally agreed. She leaned closer, hit a key, and the picture on the screen suddenly grew larger. ‘Look,’ she said, ‘you can even see the fringe.’
Brunetti bent closer and saw that she was right. He stepped back, put his hands into his pockets, and stared at the image on the screen, working out what might have happened. ‘She fell from the top of the
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