The Year of the Mantis

by P J Mann

  “I guess I have to accept, then.” His hand reached the tray with the cookies and grabbed one. “So, Mrs. Moretti, let’s go through the facts relating to what happened last night in the apartment of Mr. Calvani. What do you recall?”

  “As I told you this morning, at three o’clock or so, I couldn’t sleep anymore, and I heard Mr. Calvani slamming the door as he returned home.” She snorted, disappointed for his irresponsible behavior. “This kind of thing should happen with his son, Luciano. He is at that age when you want to stay out at night with your friends or with girls. As an adult, Mr. Calvani, instead...” she shook her head disapprovingly.

  Maurizio took out his notebook and started to scribble some notes. There were important bits of information also on her gossiping, as for example, Luciano wasn’t probably the kind of guy who was spending his time having fun with his friends, and considering the economic availabilities, this was to be regarded with a certain suspicion or with an extremely responsible and mature youth.

  “Anything else?” he asked as he raised his glance from the paper.

  “Of course… right after he came inside, his telephone started to ring. You know these walls are not thick, and we can hear quite well what happens in the other apartments, particularly during the night, when all the other noises are eliminated. Anyway, he rushed out of his apartment, and I hadn’t heard him returning home. I wasn’t waiting for him, but at least until half past four in the morning, I couldn’t fall asleep, and I’m sure if he had returned, I would have heard him.” She sipped the coffee and placed the cup on the table. “Do you want more coffee?”

  “No, thank you, I’m fine as I am, but I am taking another cookie,” he grinned cunningly. “That must have been the call of the assassin.”

  “It was the girl if you want to have my opinion,” she toughened her expression.

  Twisting his mouth, Maurizio wondered whether she might have some information about the girlfriend too. “Why would she do something like that? What could have been her reason to kill the man who loved her? If she weren’t interested in him anymore, she could have dumped him.”

  “Hah!” she exclaimed, swatting her hand on the arm of the couch. “That woman is no fool, Claudio, on the other hand, was. I bet all I have that he included her in his testament so if he had died one day, she wouldn’t have been left without any money.”

  “Have you ever met her?” Maurizio wondered at the ease with which she accused another person he wasn’t sure she’d ever met.

  “I don’t need to. I know those girls who are working in these night clubs, are not looking for love. They are looking for the first fool to get money from and to have an easy life. Certainly, you have heard about those people, too!” her eyes widening as he was still hesitating in believing that possibility.

  Indeed, Maurizio wasn’t excluding it, but it wouldn’t make any sense. “Mrs. Moretti, it’s not about this, or about what I believe, but Mr. Calvani has a son. For what I know at the moment, he’s the only heir and it’s probable thing that he preferred to leave everything to him, figuring out a different solution for the girl. On the other hand, he was still young and it’s also probable that he never thought about a testament.”

  Maurizio tried to reason, but he had to admit that Claudio’s wealth could have been a good reason for killing him. Nevertheless, there wasn’t any evidence to sustain her hypothesis, so he needed to be very cautious with his allegations and also with the way he was going to move the investigation forward.

  “Ah, Detective, I know you need to follow certain procedures, but perhaps you should listen to what the people around Mr. Calvani have to say. You certainly will ask around about what his life was like, and by doing so, you will find interesting information about him, this girlfriend of his and about the rest of the family,” she concluded with a smirk that revealed she knew more than she was willing to say.

  “Tell me one thing, did you ever partake in a chat with any of the members of the family?”

  “Before they divorced, I used to chat every now and then with the wife. Though she has always been a very reserved person, and our chats were mostly about general things happening in this building. She never let herself go into any sort of gossip,” she recalled. Her voice turned into a melancholic shade, betraying the fact that somehow, she missed her presence. “Mrs. Calvani was perhaps too good for a person like her husband. I was devastated when I discovered he cheated on her, and despite the fact that I couldn’t possibly know all the details of their relationship, I know she never gave him a valid reason to search for anything more. I cannot say whether it was the fault of the stripper who enticed him to the point that he couldn’t refuse her any longer, or because he was indeed looking for something completely different than the fine woman he’d married.” She took a short pause and looked down to her entwined fingers resting on her lap.

  “What about their son?” Maurizio continued scribbling in his notebook.

  She raised her shoulders. “What can I say? His sole purpose in life was to be noticed by his father. He loved him and would have done whatever, even remain living with him after the divorce just to have his attention...”

  “But?” He raised his glance at her, sensing there was more to be said about their relationship.

  “But since he met the girl, Mr. Calvani had time only for her. They spent together only the evenings before he left the apartment to reach her. He lost his mind completely for her, and there wasn’t anything to bring him back to his senses to take care of his son, who desperately was trying to get his attention.”

  “Interesting,” He mumbled. “Do you recall any occasion when they argued?”

  “Who, father and son?” She wondered with wide-opened eyes. “That was rare, but not impossible to hear. When Luciano reached the level of exasperation, the whole building could hear his screams against his father, who generally tried to avoid yelling back at him, promising more time to spend together during the weekend just to calm him down.”

  “Did this ever happen? I mean, did they spend the weekends together, or did Mr. Calvani spend the time with the girlfriend?” Apparently, the victim behaved more like a teenager, rather than a responsible adult, but Maurizio was still a skeptic about what he heard from Mrs. Moretti. She was virtually living with them, but he had to gather his information from other sources to get a confirmation and a more complete picture of the relationship with his family, friends, cooperators, and girlfriend.

  “Rarely, but it did. I suppose Mr. Calvani understood he also had duties toward his son. I think he did indeed love Luciano, but he was too caught up with this girl and probably didn’t realize he was neglecting their relationship.” She exhaled deeply, thinking about the son who was first suffering from the lack of attention from his father, and then he had to discover him dead.

  There was a pause of silence when Maurizio took his time to recollect his thoughts and consider other questions to ask. Nevertheless, at that moment, he probably needed to have some confirmation about what Berenice said. He had to understand whether he just wasted his time listening to her gossip, or there was indeed something helpful in what she said.

  He stood up, grabbing the last cookie. “I need to go now. I don’t have any other questions for you, but I might return in case I come up with new ones. I need some time to process what I have right now.”

  “It has been a pleasure for me, Detective, and I hope you will find the person who killed Mr. Calvani, but keep in mind what I told you because the girl might have had a great reason to kill him,” she warned. “I will be at your availability and will keep some cookies in case you will have more questions.” She winked as she guided him to the door.

  “Thank you very much for your help and for your hospitality. I will inform you if I have the need to return, and if you happen to recall anything, you can call this number,” he handed her a business card and stepped out of the door.

  He reached the car, and his stomach started to growl to remind him of the promi
se he made about having a Porchetta sandwich as he got out of the apartment.

  “Yes, I know, and we’re going to have it. I’m literally starving,” he chuckled as he started up the engine of the car.

  ***

  Since he returned from the Police precinct to allow the forensics to obtain a copy of the hard drive of his computer, Luciano closed himself to his bedroom and looked around. That was just a spare room and had none of the things he liked to surround himself with. He realized he’d been spending too much time in vain trying to get his father’s attention and neglecting the relationship with his mother.

  “I behaved toward her in the same way he behaved with me. I guess this is a sort of Karma striking back. Perhaps had I been more considerate toward her feelings, I would have also obtained more attention from him.” He sat on the bed and wondered when he would be able to either return to the apartment or to get at least some of his belongings. In the hurry of the moment, he could get only his mobile phone, the laptop, and the books to study.

  He never spent more than a few hours in his mother’s apartment, and nothing was familiar to him. It was only the place where he was going to meet his mother every now and then. His heart didn’t recognize it as home.

  The ringing of his mobile phone broke the silence in the room, and Luciano rushed, searching for it.

  “Hello,” he replied without checking the caller ID.

  “Luciano, I heard on the radio the news about your father. How are you?” Stefano’s voice arrived like a storm through the receiver.

  It didn’t take much for the news to circulate around, Luciano considered. He hoped the press would have been informed later, and perhaps the news would have reached his circle of friends and acquaintances with some delay.

  “I’m confused. I… I still can’t believe it,” he replied, trying to get a grip of his emotions. “I think that it was less than a day ago when I greeted him as he was going to meet his girlfriend... To think that only this morning, I was whistling for the chance of getting his car to reach the university... Everything is so unreal, and I feel like such a fool for my stupid desire of showing off with his Lamborghini.”

  Finally, he started to realize his father wasn’t coming back anymore and whatever he had in mind to tell him had to wait for eternity.

  “I still can’t believe it. If there’s anything I can do for you, don’t hesitate to ask. Even if it’s just to have someone listening to what you need to say, or you need to get distracted. Really, whatever.” Stefano and Luciano had been friends since the beginning of the university. It was a new friendship, but they connected immediately and became very close. With his old utility car, borrowed from his mother, he couldn’t compete with Luciano’s wealth. Still, their friendship was not about being at the same social class, but about being on the same wavelength.

  A smile appeared on Luciano’s face as he heard the concern in his friend’s voice. He suddenly felt less lonely, and probably talking with someone who wasn’t directly affected by his fate was a good idea to avoid the feeling of emptiness taking space in his soul.

  “I appreciate this. I know I can count on you. I’m sorry, I should have called you explaining why I wasn’t at the lecture this morning. Everything happened so suddenly, and I didn’t have the time to fully understand it.”

  “Are you crazy? You didn’t need to do anything else but to take care of yourself and of your mother. I know she divorced him, but I believe it was a shock for her to realize her ex-husband had been killed. Don’t feel guilty for not having called me!” Stefano assured as he continued driving home. “By the way, do you want to meet?”

  Luciano wasn’t sure whether he needed to stay home and think about what had happened, or it was better to escape for a few hours. He took a short pause to consider everything and shook his head. “Perhaps I should remain here and spend some time with my mother. We also need to arrange the funeral, the bureaucratic matters, not to mention the fact that from this moment on, we all need to be available for the investigation. I don’t know what’s going to happen next. One thing, though, I would be grateful for. Could you send me by email the notes you’ve taken and will take at the university? I’m afraid that, at least for the next two weeks, I won’t be able to attend any lectures.”

  “Of course, as I arrive home, I’ll send you a copy of today’s lectures and any future ones. I will keep taking notes for you,” Stefano replied, concerned about his friend. He knew how attached he was to his father and how frustrated he was about his careless behavior. Shaking his head, he continued driving to his home, looking forward to the time he could have checked his notes to be sent.

  For Luciano, life was getting more complicated than he could have expected. The concern of being at the murder scene was surely bothering him. He certainly was there together with all the people who lived in the building and had access to the underground parking lot. Nevertheless, among all those people, he was the one who had a reason to kill Claudio.

  His heart started to race in his chest, and pacing to the window, he peeked outside as if he was expecting the Police car to appear any time soon to bring him to jail for the murder of his father.

  The door opened suddenly, and Giulia came in without bothering to knock. She wasn’t used to that care in her home, neither was she used to do so when they lived together.

  Luciano turned to the door, expecting to find a Police officer in front of him ready to arrest him. A scream released the tension that built in his soul.

  “I didn’t mean to scare you,” Giulia apologized.

  Holding his hand to his heart as if to keep it in place, he collapsed on a chair beside the window. “No, it’s not your fault, I was so caught up in my thoughts and I didn’t even acknowledge your steps coming closer to the room.”

  She beamed and walked to him, “I’m so sorry, sweetheart, that it had to be you to discover him dead. It must have been terrible!” Her hands holding him tight to herself and stroking his hair lovingly.

  At the feeling of his mother’s touch, he once again released the stress and sobbed without any intention of keeping those tears any longer. “He never cared about me, but I loved him.”

  She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to say to make him feel better. The only feelings she had for her ex-husband since the day of the divorce, were intense moments of bitterness followed by stretches of indifference. Nevertheless, they still had something important in common: the young man who sobbed desperately clinging to her waist, like his last hope.

  “Everybody has a different way to show affection. Perhaps he was caught with his new girlfriend and with his job? Maybe he needed some time to get things settled, but I know he loved you,” she whispered, unsure whether she believed what she was saying.

  What was true and what wasn’t didn’t have any meaning at that moment. What counted was that his father was dead, and there wouldn’t have been any chance to fix their relationship. Luciano pretended he didn’t hear what she said. He knew she was trying her best to console him and it was probably what he needed the most.

  CHAPTER 5

  The following day Maurizio didn’t leave his office; he received the first results from the coroner about the murder weapon, the time of death, and the unfortunate details that the only DNA traces and fingerprints found in the car belonged to the victim and his son. Those weren’t enough proof as they were located on the steering wheel, the door, and those places where whoever used to drive the Lamborghini would have touched. The killer was probably waiting for him, hiding behind the vehicle, and jumped from there as Claudio opened the door.

  “The dynamic is still something I fail to understand,” he said, glancing at Leonardo, who was brainstorming with him in the room. He stood from the chair and paced around the room, reaching the center and stopping there.

  He grabbed a couple of chairs and aligned them one behind the other. “Mr. Calvani reached his car,” he said, walking to the front chair. “He opened the door, when someone jumped from be
hind pointing the gun at him.” He pretended to open the door of the vehicle. “If someone is threatened by an assassin before coming inside the car, the first reaction wouldn’t be that of running away?”

  Leonardo stood and walked toward him, “Maybe he thought that getting in the Lamborghini would have protected him from the bullets, or that he could have driven as fast as possible to safety.”

  “Or the assassin waited for him to be in the car, blocked one hand with the door... No, he couldn’t have done it,” Maurizio reconsidered his thoughts. “Or... the victim knew the assassin. Think if you are Mr. Calvani and are going somewhere, you open the door and I, one of your friends, relatives, acquaintances arrive and ask you to stop for a moment. What would you do?”

  Leonardo thought about it for a moment, and pretended he opened the door of the car, “I would have said that I’m a bit in a hurry. So, I’m sitting inside ready to go, but also waiting to listen to what this person has to say.”

  “Exactly!” Detective Scala exclaimed, pointing his finger against him, “This person, perhaps explained to him that it wouldn’t take long and he or she was going to sleep, so he or she approached the Lamborghini, extracts the gun and shoots the deadly shot right at the victim’s head,” he concluded pointing an imaginary gun at Leonardo’s head.

  “And Mr. Calvani wasn’t expecting him or her to extract a gun, because they were probably friends and he trusted this person, so he couldn’t react. Most likely, he didn’t have the time to realize he was holding a gun and fired at him,” Leonardo reasoned, standing up.

  “Do we have any results from the surveillance cameras?” Maurizio wondered. That evidence could have solved a big deal of headaches, because it would have revealed, at least, the dynamic as it happened.

  “Are you going to guess, or do I have to tell you?” Leonardo grimaced.