Il Pane Della Vita (22 page)

Ciana delivered a healthy baby girl. Dante held the infant for hours in the hospital, and Ciana seem to put away the fantastic idea that Dante would leave. Unfortunately, Dante had already called Fabri, announcing the arrival of his granddaughter. The businessman showed up on the third day with a car to take his daughter and granddaughter home with him.

“What are you doing here?” Ciana asked.

“Your husband told me he could not afford to keep you and the baby. He thought the baby would have a better chance at the good life if you came home with me. All is forgiven, Ciana. I ask only that we both put the past year behind us.”

Holding the baby, Dante turned away from the window. He put the child into Fabri’s arms. “May I speak with Ciana one more time?”

“It is a good thing you did not call her your wife. She intends to get an annulment.”

“
Papà, I don’t want one. Dante has his name on the birth certificate. He’s the father of my baby. Would you have approved of him doing less?”

“Yes. I have the funds to cover up
any indiscretion, darling. I shall give you five minutes, Russo.”

Ciana turned to make sure her father was gone. “You called him without telling me. I can’t believe you went ahead with everything without my permission.”

“I can’t bear to see you and the baby living in such conditions. I promise I’ll call for you when ordination is in sight.”

“
Papà will go ahead with the annulment, and you probably won’t see us again. He’ll want me to remarry.”

“I want you to be happy, Ciana. If you meet someone else, I’ll understand.”

“What about the baby? Don’t you want to spend time with her?”

“Of course I do. I just can’t give her what she needs. I’ll go ahead with the plans we talked about and hope that one day I’ll be able to take care of you both.”

Ciana turned and vomited. “Go. Get away. I don’t want to see you again.”

Dante left the room.

“I told you he was wrong for you, darling,” Fabri said when he returned. “He came from an impoverished family and wants to return to his roots. I’ll make sure you get on your feet. Then we can talk about your future.

Dante exited the elevator and made his way to the parking lot. He started the engine and looked at the gauge. There was just enough gas to get him to the seminary. He inhaled the stale air of the small village. He was taking the first step toward making things right. God would protect him from past mistakes.

The nun and monk were ready to go when Bassi pulled up to pick them up.

“You don’t know how happy I am to see you, Ignazio,” said Sister Angela. “I was afraid Brother Salvatore wanted me to walk again.
”

“W
hy do you complain, Sister? It’s a beautiful walk among the trees. And Brother Salvatore looks like he’s limping. Did he injure himself?”

“Yes, Ignazio. Sister Angela wanted me to hike up the mountain twice.”

“Tell him, Brother Salvatore, how you sat down in the pond twice too and how the second time you hurt your ankle. Please, Ignazio, we have brought you coffee and a roll. You can save the roll for later if you’ve already eaten.”

Bassi parked the car in front of the chapel. He had called ahead, and when the two walked inside, Bauer was already at the door, waiting for them. Then he waved at Ignazio.

“Bassi has to buy some supplies,” said Bauer. “He’ll be back with the supplies in time to take you down.”

“Marcus, isn’t it?” asked the nun, putting out her hand. “
Don’t you usually work at night?”

“Yes.
Costa has an appointment and will be late.”

“I have to take Brothe
r Salvatore to the kitchen, but I would like to talk to you about the videos a bit later. The chief detective and I went through them and found some interesting discrepancies.”

Sister Angela followed the brother to the
kitchen.

“I don’t have a patter
n like that,” said Pozza. “I don’t have any knives like that one.”

“The picture shows the blade. Would that be something you might use in a kitchen?”

“Oh yes. It’s a filleting knife. I have several. The pattern on the handle is different, though.”

“What do you mean by different?” asked Brother Salvatore.

“It isn’t a common pattern. You could check the hardware store in the village. They might know who they sold it to.”

“I’ve seen it somewhere, though,” said Brother Salvatore. “I just can’t remember where.”

With Brother Salvatore at her side, Sister Angela next went to visit Neri in his office.

“What can I do for you, Sister?”

“In the light of new evidence, I need to speak with Brother Donato. Is there a way you can get hold of him?”

Neri checked his w
atch. “He will be deep in prayer. I am not sure this is a good time.”

“
He may be preparing for Terce, which is in ten minutes,” said Brother Salvatore. “Maybe we can wait to talk to him after the service.” He took her arm and tried to urge her toward the door. When they got outside, he explained. “We don’t need Neri to give us permission. If Terce is in ten minutes, then we can stand by the gate until Brother Donato approaches.”

Sister Angela smiled. “Good thinking.
That sneaky streak you display from time to time will make you a great detective.”

Within five minutes, they began to see the hermits trudge down the hill.

Sister Angela stood closer to the gate. “Brother Donato, I have a few questions. Do you have a minute?”

Brother Donato grimaced. “If I’m late, I’ll not be able to join them in the church.
I already missed Prime so I must make the service.”

“My first question has to do with our interview a few days ago. You said you saw Brother Pietro behind you as you recessed through the gate the night of the explosion.”

“Yes. I did. I held the gate open for him.”

“Are you certain you saw him? Perhaps yo
u only glanced at his hand or the sandals.”

“No. I handed the gate to him, and he thanked me. I was surprised since he usually doesn’t talk right after the service, but this time he did.” Brother Donato craned his neck and noticed the end of the procession disappearing into the narthex. “I must go, Sister. Meet me here in an hour
, and I’ll talk to you then.”

The nun stared at him until he too vanished. “I didn’t expect that. I thought he would tell me that he might have been mistaken.”

“Are you sure the figure on the video wasn’t Brother Pietro?”

“Yes. We have to talk to Brother Donato again in a
n hour. We should talk to Bauer next.”

“Do you mean about the video
and discrepancies?” asked Brother Salvatore.

“
Yes. That’s a good idea. I’ll keep an eye on the time.”

“I’m not surprised,” said Bauer. “Morena asked for them. That’s why we taped everything.”

“Do you ever go through them?” asked Brother Salvatore.

“Yes. When I’m here, I watch everything in real time. When I’m out keeping an eye on the perimet
er, I return and rewind the video so I can see if I miss anything?”

“But something must have happened, Mr. Bauer, that you or Mr. Costa missed.”

“I wasn’t here on the night of the explosion, but if you found something, it would help us if you reported it.”