The Scent of the Night by Andrea Camilleri Page B

happened, the inspector decided to stretch his legs. He got out of the car and went up to the man.
    'Are you a policeman?'
    ‘ Me? Not on your life! Gaspare Indelicato's the name. I'm a caretaker at the primary school Please step aside, there are cars coming this way.'
    'Excuse me, but isn't today a school day?'
    'Of course, but the school is closed. Two ceilings collapsed.'
    Is that why you were assigned traffic duty?'
    'Nobody assigned me anything. I volunteered. If I wasn't here and Peppi Brucculeri — who also volunteered — wasn't over there, can you imagine the mess?'
    ‘ What happened to the road?'
    ‘ It caved in about half a mile from here. Five months ago. There's only room for one car to pass at a time.'
     
    ‘ Five months ago?!'
    ‘ Yessirree. The town council says it's the provincial council that should repair it, the provincial council says it's the job of the regional council, the regional council says it's up to the road department, and you, in the meantime, get screwed.'
    'And you don't? ’
    ‘I get around on bicycle.'
    Half an hour later, Montalbano was able to resume his journey. He remembered that the farm was about two and a half miles outside Calapiano, and to get there one had to take a little track so full of holes, rocks, and dust that even goats shunned it This time, however, he found himself on a road that was narrow, yes, but paved and well maintained. There were two possibilities: he had either made a wrong turn or the town of Calapiano had an efficient administration. The latter proved to be the case. The big farmhouse appeared round a bend, a light plume of smoke rising from the chimney, a sign that somebody was cooking in the kitchen. He looked at his watch. It was almost one o'clock. He got out of the car, filled his arms with cannoli and pastries, went into the house and into the big room that served as both dining and living room, as demonstrated by the television in the comer. He put his packages down on the table and went into the kitchen. Franca, Mimì 's sister, had her back to him and didn't realize he'd come in. The inspector stood there a moment, watching her in silence, adniiring the harmony of her movements but mostly spellbound by the aroma of ragu filling his lungs. ‘F ranca.'
    The woman turned around, face lighting up, and ran into Montalbano's arms.
    'Salvo ! What a big surprise!' she said. Then: ‘ Have you heard about Mimì 's wedding?'
    ‘ Yes.'
    'Beba phoned me this morning; her father's feeling better.'
    She said no more and went back to the stove. She didn't bother to ask Salvo why he'd come to see them. What a woman! thought Montalbano. Then he asked: "Where are the others?'
    The grown-ups are working. Giuseppe, Domenico, and Francois are at school. But they'll be back soon. Ernst has gone in the car to pick them up. Remember him? The German student who spent the summer here lending a hand? He liked it so much, he comes back whenever he can.'
    ‘I need to talk to you,' said Montalbano.
    He told her about the passbook and the money he'd entrusted to the notary. He'd never mentioned it before to either Franca or her husband, Aldo, for the simple reason that he always forgot As he was explaining, Franca kept going back and forth between the kitchen and the dining room, the inspector following behind her. When he'd fin ished, her only comment was:
    'You did the right thing. I'm so happy for Francois. Want to help me lay the table? ’
     
    NINE
     
     
     
    When he heard the car pull into the courtyard, he couldn't help himself and ran outside.
    He recognized Francois at once. God , how he'd changed! He was no longer the little boy he remembered, but a lanky youth with dark, curly hair and big dark eyes. At that same moment Francois saw him.
    'Salvo! ’
    And he flew to him and hugged him tight. Not like the time when he'd run towards him and then sidestepped at the last second . Now there were no more problems between them, no more shadows, only great