Kidnapped and a Daring Escape (47 page)

    
Its terse writing makes riveting reading. She cannot help smile
occasionally, in spite of its grimness. It shows that its writer has not lost
his humor. It is over three thousand words long.

    
The letter containing André’s report as an attachment states that this
material was smuggled out of prison. She finds e-mail addresses for
editors of a dozen newspapers. By seven she has sent them all off. It is
getting late for her dinner appointment with her paternal grandparents.

* * *

She arrives fifteen minutes late at her grandparents’ house. Her grandfather is not home yet, but her grandmother hugs her repeatedly. "You have
been on my mind the whole time ever since we heard that you were taken
hostage, and I was so happy and relieved when I heard that you were free
again. And now I hear that the young man who helped you escape has
been arrested."

    
Bianca fights the tears that threaten.

    
"Oh, my poor child," her grandmother adds, patting her shoulder.

    
"Franco Visconti and my father made a
denuncia
—"

    
"Did they? How awful! My own son?"
 

    
"Yes, papà admitted it. But it’s all lies what they claim. If it were not
for André, I would be dead now. The kidnappers had not intention of
setting me free even if the ransom was paid."

    
"Oh dear. You have to tell me everything one of these days. You
know, I had a good feeling about this young man the moment I saw him.
The way he looked at you told me that he loves you dearly."

    
"Yes, and I love him —"

    
"Oh, I saw that too. You looked so beautiful when he said that you
were getting married. I wanted to kiss and hug you. I don’t think I have
ever seen anybody more happy than you were at that moment."

    
"I was happy then. I still am, because I know that these accusations are
all false and that he will be released soon. And then we will get married."

    
"How did you meet him?"

    
"He stayed at the same hotel and we shared a dance. Then next day he
happened to be on the same day excursion to an archaeological site and
got taken hostage with me. I think I would have lost my mind had it not
been for his support and encouragement during the first few hours of
captivity, and he was able to escape and then followed the kidnappers to
rescue me."

    
"Few people would have done that. Most would flee as far away as
possible."

    
"He didn’t, and he was so cunning. When you hear the whole story
you will not believe me. Some of the things he did are beyond belief. He
is courageous, to the point of being reckless."

    
She hears the sound of the front door opening.

    
"Ah, here comes your grandfather. You will all have to tell me later,"
remarks her grandmother. She calls out: "Bianca is here."

    
Bianca kisses her grandfather’s cheeks.

    
"You look good," he remarks, holding her by her shoulders. "It is hard
to believe that you escaped just a few days ago from captivity." He
scrutinizes her face again. "You know, you have changed. There is
something in your face that was not there before … determination, yes
that’s what it is."

    
"Yes, I grew up rapidly during the last three weeks, and now I need to
be strong more than ever."

    
"You really plan to break with
Professore
Visconti? But why? It
would be such a prestigious marriage."

    
"Yes, it is finished between Visconti and me."

    
"And the reason is the kidnapping? Your father says you blame him."

    
"Yes, I do, and sooner or later the truth will come out, and the truth
will not be that André Villier has brainwashed me, that I am delusional
and suffering from the Stockholm syndrome, as
Professore
Visconti
wants people to believe."

    
"Yes, your father told me that they want you to undergo psychological
testing."

    
"I already got a summons to that effect from
Commissario
Farnese.
She is the one who had André Villier arrested."

    
"
Commissario
Farnese," exclaimed her grandmother. "But isn’t she
Franco Visconti’s cousin? Three or four years older than he?"

    
"Yes, she is," responds her grandfather. "But this is highly irregular.
Are you sure, Bianca, that she is in charge of the investigation?"

    
"Yes, I have the summons here." She removes the document from her
handbag. "Here, it is signed
Commissario
C. Farnese."

    
"Yes, that is her. Claudia Farnese."

    
A cold shiver creeps up Bianca’s spine. "Did you say her first name
is Claudia?"

    
"Yes, why?"

    
She closes her eyes and cups her face with her hands. She feels sick.
Another piece of the puzzle sliding into place.

    
"What’s the matter, Bianca? Are you ill?" cries her grandmother.

    
"No … Yes, for a moment I felt sick. When André got our luggage
from the hotel in Popayàn where the tour group had stayed, he also paid
the telephone charges Franco failed to settle. One of the calls Franco
made in the morning after we were taken hostage was to a Claudia
Farnese."

    
"How do you know?"

    
"I called the number and the woman who answered identified herself
as Claudia Farnese." And then asked whether it was Franco who called
at that ungodly hour, she recalls.

    
"Why would Franco have called her?" questions her grandmother,
puzzled.

    
"She was
Professore
Visconti’s lover at some time before our
engagement," murmurs Bianca, slowly regaining her composure.

    
"Oh yes, I remember. Claudia Farnese and
Professore
Visconti lived
together for several years and then suddenly split up," her grandmother
remarks. "It was seen as a minor scandal, the two of them living together."

    
"Yes, they split up when Farnese’s career at the
Questura
took off. I
think it was pointed out to her that living with her cousin might be
frowned upon and could hinder her advancement," adds her grandfather.
"But she should not be in charge of this investigation. I mean, she could
be accused of bias."

    
Hadn’t André warned her she risked her reputation, Bianca triumphs,
recalling the entry on this in his diary? A thought slowly firms in her
mind and she laughs cynically. "Farnese made a fatal mistake. I will
make sure that the press gets to hear of that."

    
"What are you talking about?" questions her grandmother.

    
"I will contact an editor of
Il Messaggero
and tell him about that, as
well as a few other things. I’m fairly certain that they will publish it. It
will blow her whole case and dent her reputation."

    
"At the minimum, it will mean that she will be removed from the
investigation," chuckles her grandfather.

    
"But now, lets sit down for dinner," admonishes her grandmother.
"I’m certain, Berta has been waiting impatiently for us."

* * *

Bianca takes leave early after promising to visit her grandparents again
soon. Once in her car outside their house, she calls Gallizio and informs
him of what she discovered. He promises that first thing tomorrow
morning, he is going to lodge an official complaint with the
Questore
against
Commissario
Farnese. She does not tell him of her plans to go to
the press.

    
Next, she drives to the offices of
Il Messaggero
, and asks to see one
of the editors. She is referred to Carla Sanoni, a junior reporter. When
Bianca identifies herself and mentions that she has incriminating
information about the arrest of André Villier, Carla immediately calls up
the night editor in charge, and a minute later, she is ushered into his
office.

    
"We received your e-mail and the story of Villier’s first forty-eight
hours in a Roman prison. What an amazing tale! We will feature it in
tomorrow’s issue, possibly on the front page. But Carla tells me that this
is not your reason for being here, that in fact you have more information.
Is that right?"

    
"Yes."

    
Bianca now reports on the family relationship and the previous
prolonged sexual connection between
Professore
Visconti and
Commissario
Farnese. She reveals her father’s admission that he and the
professor had made the
denuncia
after getting advice to that effect from
Commissario
Farnese, and that Farnese plans to make this a case of the
Stockholm syndrome and has already summoned her to undergo a
psychiatric assessment. She also mentions the professor’s telephone call
to Farnese on the morning after the kidnapping, before he called her own
parents. Finally, she reveals that the professor was her former fiancé with
whom she broke on the day of her return to Rome. Neither the night
editor nor the reporter hide their excitement, bordering on glee, about
what she tells them.

    
"We are definitely interested in this," says the night editor. "It is
scandalous and needs to be made public. However, to protect ourselves
as far as is possible, we will run it as your allegations, and I must warn
you that if anything of this turns out to be false, you open yourself up to
libel."

    
"There is nothing in what I said for which I do not have backup. My
father will be too proud not to admit his role. I have a witness who heard
the professor admit the
denuncia
and that it was done on Farnese’s
advice. It is well known that he and Farnese lived in a sexual relationship
for several years prior to his engagement to me, and I have documents to
back up the early morning phone call. I am not afraid." She stops herself
at the last moment from adding that there will soon be further surprises.

    
They take her photograph.

17

It is still dusk on Thursday morning, when the cell doors open and the
prisoners file out to go down to breakfast. André is doubly vigilant to
keep well away from Massimo or Fausto. To his surprise, neither makes
an effort to get near him. He is also aware that all the other inmates avoid
him, as they already did for the evening meal last night. Nobody sits near
him. Only a few latecomers have no choice but to sit at the same table,
keeping well clear. He can once more enjoy a meal in relative peace,
except for being unobtrusively watched by everybody.

    
Back in the cell, Pietro tells him that Massimo has increased the daily
protection fee to fifty euros.

    
Two hours or so after breakfast, the inmates are led in groups of ten
to the showers. Although the previous day his section of the upper
corridor was the second group, today they are the last. André also notices
that one of the guards supervising them is the one who pocketed the
sharpened spoon. He wonders whether Massimo is again in possession
of that weapon. But neither of the two tall fellows is in their group. Have
the two decided to wait and see if he comes up with the fifty euros or are
they simply trying to lull him into believing that he’s safe? Lowering his
vigilance is though not part of his nature. In fact, the apparent lack of
threat renders him even more alert.

    
He undresses at the far end of the shower room, making sure to always
have the entire room in his vision. It is also the area that is totally
captured by the security camera. He lathers himself, again facing into the
room, rather than the wall, so that nobody can get close to him unseen.
Halfway through his shower, he observes that the guy next to him leaves;
it seems after hardly having washed more than his underarms. At the
same time, the door to the little storage room near the entrance opens and
Massimo and Fausto come out, fully dressed except for being barefoot.