Читать книгу The Lost Twin - Federico Betti, Federico Betti - Страница 6

Stefano Zamagni knew Carla Mezzogori as both lived at the same street, in a few meters of distance: he was living next to the Square Repubblica while she lived in the intersection with the first segment of the street Venezia.

The first time they’ve met was just occasional, as one day he had helped her to take a heavy box out of the car, and thus expressing his willingness to pull it up to the entrance door of the building.

He was passing by the lady’s car and immediately had offered his help seeing her in trouble.

In return, she had thanked him and then each of them had been going on their own way.

Since that day, he had met her by chance in the sidewalk and both saluted each other, and while the days passed, the police inspector had begun to get acquainted with the lady and her husband afterwards.

The relation established between Zamagni and Carla Mezzogori couldn’t be defined as a true and proper friendship, but more or less a good acquaintance by both parties.

Several times, the couple would also invite Zamagni to spend some hours in their companionship during the evening, and in return, sometimes he would bring some drink and sometimes would invite them for having breakfast at the bar.

In all conversations, they used to talk about a diverse range of topics, including the job (Carla was a state official in the post office of Bologna located in the Mazzini quarter, her husband worked in a mechanic’s shop; and they got very surprised when found that Stefano Zamagni was a police inspector), as well as the great attention Carla was paying to her nephew in particular, the bond she had established with him, and how the couple haven’t had decided so far to have kids fearing that they would have the same fate. Of course, their conversations did also tackle topics of general interest.

As far as he knew about this family situation, Zamagni was often asking Carla about the health of her nephew trying to avoid any excessive bothering to her family affairs, and in response, Carla told that his condition was more or less stable.

It was obvious that the police inspector didn’t always come up with such topic spontaneously, but he often took the chance from the lady, who was the one opening it up.

He only asked her very quickly about the boy’s health, because after all he regretted that people may suffer such experiences.

Sometimes, Carla had told him about the relationship with her sister-in-law, which she considered unsatisfactory, as well as about her brother who, many years ago, had disappeared without leaving any trace. Consequently, Zamagni could have been able to assume that the family situation was quite disadvantaged.

All such thoughts disappeared in his head while being at job place, highly involved on solving a complicated case. Among other things, he recently had experienced the unexpectable epilogue of the occurrences related to Atropos case.

Zamagni wasn’t yet able to realize the reality of things: he was committed to complete the process that seemed to be a routine investigation of the police, until a very strange and unimaginable thing occurred.

And everything ran so fast.

He was hearing with speakerphone a conversation that could have been very helpful to find the author of all those crimes, while Ema Simoni, one of his neighbors appeared nearby, bringing some food specialties she used to prepare, and exactly at this moment she distinguished the voice speaking on the other side of the phone. Meanwhile Zamagni hadn’t realized what was really happening at least for the moment, then immediately he had implied the right connections even though he couldn’t realize how it could be possible.

As far as appeared, the person speaking on the mobile phone had to do with Atropos case, but also he had to do with Daniele Santopietro, whom the inspector Zamagni had inquired in the past.

Moreover, there was the letter sent to him and those phone calls he’d received so far.

Haven’t you received yet? That means it will come very soon. Meanwhile I wanted to congratulate you, the other person had said to him, and later he had hung up in order to call him back in a few minutes.

I wanted also to let you know something else, he had added, there exists a well-known rule that everyone should see his own business, without interfering in the others’ business. I thought you were already aware, but it appears that I’m wrong.

Following the break after the conclusion of investigation on Atropos Association, Zamagni had been highly committed to find out the mysteries that laid around Daniele Santopietro, the encoded letter sent to him as well the anonymous person who had called him. Was it possible for any connection to exist between all these events? And what kind, if any?

He would take care of any single detail at the right time in collaboration with the agent Finocchi, who had always helped him until now, and similarly like Zamagni, had had to do with Daniele Santopietro in the past.

“Now I have to go out to buy a couple of things”, said Marisa Lavezzoli to her son, turning on the TV. “I’m gonna leave you alone for a while. Stay calm and watch the TV. What channel do you prefer?”

He made her realize that there was not at all important for him to choose any TV channel, as each seemed to be equal to any other.

His mother put the remote control on the table and went out. Once back home in half an hour, she found her son in the same place like before, staring at the TV, with his eyes wide open.

“You see that I wasn’t late enough?”, she said, “Now I am completely available for you. I’m gonna go to the dining room and read something over there. In case you need me, please make a call.”

The son returned with a gesture of approval and, after a while, watching TV, he felt his mother going through some pages.

The evening was also the same as always, the nurse arrived right on time to make the botulinum toxin injections while helping Marco to lie on the bed.

Once hearing the door bell, Marisa Lavezzoli put aside the papers she was reading at that moment, and hosted Daniela Rossi who spent as much time as needed to do her usual work, and afterwards she left away.

The night passed quietly until the appearance of the next morning, and the whole day did pass so.

On the following day, a tragedy occurred.

It was one of those days when Carla Mezzogori, on the way to her job place, usually stopped for a while to see her nephew and sister-in-law and, upon arrival at their house, her sister-in-law just appeared at the doorway having a face expression different from usual. The despair was clearly noticeable, the despair of such a person who has already lost everything and nothing else has been remained.

“What’s the matter, Marisa?”, Carla asked while entering the apartment, “What’s happened?”

After a while, her words have lost for a few instants because of what she saw in front of, and after taking some time to recover from the shock, asked: “How did it happen?”

The sister-in-law kept quiet for some instants before responding to such question, and then merely said these words: “I don’t really know how to explain”.

After wiping the tears streaking on her face, she kept saying: “So I did find him upon returning home. For a while, I went to buy something into the supermarket nearby, I could have been out maybe for… twenty minutes, thirty minutes at maximum.”

For an instant Carla stared at her hemiplegic nephew, lying on the floor of the dining room, and then moved close to the opened window.

“So far, do you have any rough idea what has happened here?”, asked Carla Mezzogori, in a broken voice.

“The only thing that comes to my mind is that someone could have entered the apartment through window in the attempt of robbery and has faced with Marco.”

“Did you check if you miss anything in the apartment?”

“Not yet. It didn’t come to my mind at all”, answered the sister-in-law, “I’m still shocked.”

“I think the best thing to do is to call the Police.”

“Frankly speaking, I don’t see it necessary for the moment”, she objected, “At first, I would prefer to get better from all that just happened to me.”

“As you like”, said Carla, without arguing, “however, I suggest you to call the Police so that they can start investigating as soon as possible.”

“I won’t forget to do so”, nodded the sister-in-law, unable to hide her intention to cut it short, meanwhile Carla, upon arrival at home, talked to her husband Giuseppe, who in return, advised her to inform the inspector Zamagni on this matter.

“As part of the Police Forces, Zamagni could help us more than anyone else, or even takes charge himself of the case investigation”.

His wife agreed.

While Stefano Zamagni had just finished organizing the whole documentation on his desk related to Daniele Santopietro’s case as well as the letter sent right after the conclusion of Atropos Association’s case, his cell phone began to ring.

“May I?”, asked Carla Mezzogori on the phone.

“I was just checking some stuff, anyway, never mind. Tell me please.

“Well... do you remember Marco, my hemiplegic nephew?”

Zamagni nodded.

“Last night, on my way home after work, I went to his apartment just to see him for a while, and upon arrival, I found myself in front of a scene which I wouldn’t ever wish to be.”

“What happened there?”

“It wasn’t known exactly what’s happened”, started to tell Carla Mezzogori, ”however, my sister-in-law was in tear and my nephew laid down dead on the floor. He was alone at home, this is what my sister-in-law told me. Perhaps...”

“Oh, for God’s sake! I’m so sorry”, said Zamagni to the lady after hesitating for an instant and stopping her seemingly in mid-flow. “Any clue on the cause of death? Probably he might have fallen down for some reason? Or you think it’s about an attempt of robbery?”

Even the inspector Zamagni didn’t really know how to deal with the situation that suddenly has come upon him.

“Seeing that the window was open, one assumption, though not reliable enough, is the robbery attempt. My sister-in-law will check if she misses something in her apartment, and I guess she has just did it last night or will do it today. She confessed to me that first of all, she would need to get over the shock occurred to her all of a sudden.”

“I got it”, replied Zamagni.

“If there has been a robbery attempt, for sure the perpetrator will be accused for murder. Isn’t it so?”, asked Carla Mezzogori.

“Yes, sure, if it comes out that such assumption is true”, returned the inspector, without taking any position.

“Would you be willing, I mean you and your colleagues, to go there and make an inspection onsite?”

“Frankly speaking, I am a little busy with some other tasks, but however, I will do a favor to you, as my friend, and will go right now to see the situation over there”, nodded Zamagni with a gesture of approval, “It is truly important that nobody should spoil anything in the apartment, although my impression is that the crime scene has been already stepped in, though unintentionally.”

“Yeah, probably”, said the woman, “I’m afraid that my sister-in-law has touched any object or thing in the apartment.”

“That’s clear. In such a situation, I believe it will be very difficult for anyone who will be in charge of this case, to succeed in capturing the perpetrator.”

“I have no idea what you’re gonna decide to do next, however thanks for your attention and involvement.”

“I will do my best, but I can ensure you nothing”, was the answer of Zamagni who, after hanging up the phone, went to inform captain Luzzi for his absence in office due to a sudden incident happened.