Death in Tuscany (47 page)

*

'Here it is,' Ciuffi exclaimed, showing him one of the photos showing the two Albanians and Zancarotti loading the spare tyre into the boot of their car. They were half hidden between two heavy goods vehicles — one of which was a tanker lorry.

Ferrara felt a slight shudder at the sight of the inscription
MINING EXTRACTIONS.

'Now it's your turn to tell me everything,' he said. And don't leave anything out, even if it takes all afternoon. This is big, and anything could be useful.'

It didn't take all afternoon, but a large part of it, interrupted by a call from Rizzo to Ferrara's mobile.

'I have some news about the Stella case, chief.'

'Go ahead.'

'Doctor Leone has been looking at the medical records, and there's something he says doesn't quite fit. Apparently, two blood tests were done on Stella after she was admitted. The first one didn't show the presence of drugs, but the second one, which was done a few hours later, did. Leone thinks that as the first test didn't confirm what seemed evident after they'd administered Narcan, Profesor d'Incisa wanted to double check. Are you following me?'

'Yes, go on, I'm in a bit of hurry and the battery's running low on my mobile.' It was a lie.

‘I’m sorry. Where are you? Do you want me to call you on a landline?'

‘I’m on the same floor as you are. I'm with Ciuffi, but pretend you don't know. Go on before my battery runs out completely.'

'Well, Dr Leone says that the second blood sample was taken at 9.45. According to him, that's the limit of the time period during which the heroin stays in the bloodstream. After that, the morphine is metabolised and doesn't leave any more traces. Which is a bit strange because it would mean that when

Stella was found that morning she had only just taken the drugs. He'd like to talk to Professor D'Inscisa to get him to clarify it, but no one's seen him at the hospital today and there's no reply on his home number. We managed to trace his wife in Viareggio, but she doesn't know where he is. In fact, she's quite worried because she says it's not like him to vanish like that. We're on our way to his apartment. I wanted to tell you.'

Ferrara had a split-second reaction, related to that shadow that seemed to hang over everything, the one thing that linked Palladiani and d'Incisa: Freemasonry.

'Run, Francesco! Knock the door down if you have to, even if you don't have Anna Giulietti's permission. First, though, send out an alert. Anyone who sees him should stop him on sight. It's obvious Stella wasn't drugged just before she was found. There weren't any syringes there, and anyway she was drugged in the factory, and it would have taken time to get her dressed. True, they were in a hurry and forgot half her clothes, but even so. Then it would have taken time to drive her out to the place she was found and dump her there, don't you think? In my opinion, the man's making a run for it!'

'So ultimately, chief,' Ciuffi concluded, 'everything seems to point to this Zitturi, but we still have no idea who he is.'

After Rizzo's phone call, it had taken a while to resume the conversation where they had left off. But in the end Ferrara had managed to set aside the problem of d'Incisa and they had returned to the Carrara case. For both of them it was the priority, although for different reasons: for Ferrara because he still had to find his friend, for Ciuffi because it was clearly a narcotics operation of major significance.

That name, Zitturi, had rung a bell with Ferrara right from the moment Luigi Ciuffi had first mentioned it in connection with the transcript of the recording from the bugged cell.

It recalled something: something that was struggling to emerge from his fevered subconscious.

He went over and over the transcript, but couldn't find anything.

'Do you still have the tape?' he asked in the end.

Ciuffi had it. They put it on the tape recorder and listened. The bits of dialogue in Albanian irritated and distracted him, but when Emilio Zancarotti spoke he paid careful attention.

When they reached the phrase, 'Nor will Zitturi - we've fucked it up for him, too . . .' he cried, 'Stop! Go back a little, let me hear that bit again,' he said.

The sound was not good and the pronunciation not very clear. There seemed to be a slight stress on the first syllable, and a doubling of the final V as if the man were saying 'Zitturri'. Suddenly, it all became clear. It was as if a chain reaction had been set off in his mind.

Zi Turri
. . . Zi Turi . . .
Sicilian for Uncle Salvatore . . . Salvatore meant saviour . . .
The Saviour of the quarries . . .

Without saying a word he leapt to his feet, raced along the corridors of Police Headquarters, leaving everyone he passed open-mouthed, and ran into his office.

'Fanti!' he called, going directly into his secretary's room. Fanti went white, seeing him materialise like that in an unsettling role-reversal. 'Get on the phone and call your friend in Trapani right now! I need to know which Mafia family controls Bellomonte di Mezzo.'

The sergeant dialled the number.

'Hello? Could I speak to Inspector Cavallari, this is Police Headquarters in Florence . . . Yes, thanks, I'll wait.'

'Pass him to me as soon as they put him on.'

'Giuseppe? This is Nestore, I'm passing you Chief Superintendent Ferrara.'

'I need a great favour, Inspector. Which family runs Bellomonte di Mezzo?'

'The Lapruas, Chief Superintendent.'

'Never heard of them . . . who are they?'

'Three brothers. The father's not around any more.'

'What are their names?'

'Tonio, Vito and Alfio.'

'No Salvatore?'

'That's the father's name. Salvatore Laprua, known as Zi Turi.'

Ferrara could feel his heart beating faster. 'What happened to him? Is he dead?'

'No one knows. He vanished.' 'When?'

'At the beginning of the Nineties.'

'Was he ever charged with anything? Is he wanted?'

'No, they weren't a leading family. They've only really emerged in the last ten years — in fact, since the sons took over. We've had our eye on them for four or five years, but we've never been able to pin anything on them.'

'Thanks very much, Inspector. That's all I need for the moment. Forget about Mining Extractions, I know who's behind it now. And don't expose yourself, okay?'

He hung up and turned to Fanti.

'I have another little bit of research for you. I want you to find out if there's a Salvatore Laprua anywhere in Tuscany and what he does. Concentrate particularly on the coast. I think this time we're almost there!'

Now at last he was ready to go and see Anna, but before he could leave there was another phone call from Rizzo.

'We found d'Incisa, chief. He's at home. Dead. The woman who's standing in for the caretaker let us in, though she had to phone the professor's wife first to ask permission.'

'How did he die?'

'To judge by the syringe next to the body, I'd say drugs this time, too. Dr Leone and Forensics are on their way. I've already informed Anna Giulietti, she's on her way there too.'

He was the only one missing, but he realised he couldn't go. There would be too many professionals there in their institutional roles, all of whom knew by now that he had been suspended. His presence would have been an embarrassment to them. Especially to Anna.

'Okay. Keep me updated. I'll be at home.'

30

Since Ferrara had not yet been reinstated, Anna Giulietti decided to summon everyone to her home instead of to the Prosecutor's Department.

Her apartment occupied the entire first floor of a fifteenth-century building in the Via de' Sassetti, and had high frescoed ceilings that inspired respect and admiration rather than awe. The study, a brightly lit room large enough for receptions, contained furniture from various periods, all strictly Florentine. Apart from the seventeenth-century walnut desk, there were enough sofas and armchairs to easily accommodate about ten people.

Ferrara, Rizzo and Leone arrived separately but punctually at nine in the morning, and she welcomed them with a silver pot full of steaming coffee.

To start the meeting off, Ferrara had them tell him about the discovery of the body.

Apparently, once they had gone in, Rizzo and his men had immediately noticed that there was only one light still on in the whole apartment: in Ludovico d'Incisa's bedroom. They had found the professor lying on his back on the bed, fully dressed, his left shirtsleeve rolled up and a syringe not far from his open right hand. Pending the autopsy, Leone was inclined to think that the death was due to an overdose and had probably occurred late in the evening of 15 August, probably between seven and midnight.

The professor's bedroom was relatively tidy, as was the rest of the apartment. The body bore no apparent signs of violence. In a cabinet in the bathroom, not very well hidden, they had found a few grams of heroin and cocaine, no more than five in all, sufficient for a few doses.

‘I’d rule out an accident,' Rizzo said in conclusion. 'The man was no beginner, and he was a doctor, too. And the drugs were normal, not badly cut. At the present stage, suicide looks the most likely hypothesis.'

Leone and Anna Giulietti nodded in confirmation.

A suspicious suicide, to say the least,' Ferrara observed, 'given what we've found out about the two blood tests.'

'Which would confirm your initial suspicion of malpractice, wouldn't it?' Anna Giulietti remarked, with an admiring smile for both Ferrara and Rizzo.

Ferrara, however, did not seem pleased. 'But what if there was something else?' he said, and it was clear it had cost him some effort to ask the question.