The Year of the Mantis

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The Year of the Mantis Page 11

by P J Mann


  A whimper filled the emptiness of the room as he exhaled, collapsing in his chair. Caressing the smooth surface of his desk he let his thoughts free to roam, whether to Mrs. Moretti, who hadn’t called him in a while to her suggestion about Luciano’s girlfriend.

  “Why does she think this girlfriend is important to the investigation? What could be her connection to the murder, besides being sentimentally connected with the one who benefitted the most from Mr. Calvani’s death?”

  His voice was hardly a mumble as he followed his hand caressing the desk. A sudden thought forced him to stop the trail of his hand. His eyes opened up wide to focus on what his mind was formulating.

  Like a little cloud on the summer sky, it started to take form, growing and spreading through the blue. Its color changed suddenly and from the fluffy white cottony shape, it turned lead-gray and oppressive, kicking up a thunderstorm.

  A bang like the thunder was the loud noise caused by the landing of Maurizio’s open palm to the surface that brought him to realize something he’d never considered, the implication of a third person.

  He stood from his chair, rushing outside. Running to the parking lot, he was determined to reach the Forensic Department, where Leonardo had his office. He needed someone to confirm or debunk his theory.

  Like a storm, he opened the door. “I need your help,” Maurizio panted, slamming the door closed behind him.

  “Take a seat, or you’ll pass out,” Leonardo smirked, amused.

  Maurizio grabbed a chair and sat down right in front of Leonardo’s desk. Generally, he would have reacted to the sarcastic comment, but on that occasion, it seemed as if he didn’t hear what he said. He was still chewing an idea storming in his mind, and, he knew he wouldn’t have any peace until he’d talked with someone or brainstormed about it.

  “I was trying to put all the pieces together, when the observation of Mrs. Moretti returned to my mind. She was pointing out that Luciano, had a girlfriend.” He commenced, hoping to get more clarity in his mind. “Now, I know a young man, student at the University, most probably has a girlfriend or is in some sort of relationship. What tickles my mind is that the girl’s name is Irina, and Mrs. Moretti is ready to swear she is somehow connected with Mr. Calvani’s girlfriend.”

  “Hmm...” muttered Leonardo leaning on his chair. “So, we might have a case of a family date? The father is dating a woman, causing the divorce from his wife, and then the son starts dating the daughter of the father’s girlfriend.”

  Leonardo crossed his fingers in front of his mouth and ruminated about it for a moment.

  “This wouldn’t be the first time that something like this has happened. What might be considered strange is that according to Ms. Fazekas, she never met Luciano. I haven’t said that this Irina is her daughter. This is what Mrs. Moretti suggested, but we need some confirmation, and to do so, we need to talk with Ms. Fazekas one more time. Come with me, I need a witness during this chat.” Maurizio stood up and started to walk to the door.

  As he noticed that Leonardo didn’t move from his position, he turned to glance at him, “Are you waiting for something in particular to move your ass from that chair?”

  “Belonging to different departments, and since you aren’t my direct supervisor, I would have expected a ‘please’ to accompany your request.” Leonardo remained seated in his chair. “Secondly, shouldn’t you call her first to see if she’s at home or anywhere else? Moreover, why me, and not one of your cohorts?”

  Grinning, and clenching his fists, he understood that he might have a point with calling her before going to her apartment. “For the first question, you got a point, concerning my collaborators; I have given them specific tasks, and they are busy,” he growled, pulling his mobile phone from the pocket of his jeans.

  He sat down once again, followed by the amused glance of Leonardo, and dialed Madlen’s telephone number.

  Madlen was at the door, ready to leave the apartment and go to a meeting with a representative from the insurance company to obtain some information about the process to obtain the insurance settlement.

  The telephone ringing startled her as she cringed, noticing it was an unknown number. It wasn’t difficult to guess who was calling her and the reason for that call.

  “Hello,” she replied, trying to sound as natural as possible.

  “Good morning, Ms. Fazekas, I’m sorry to disturb you; this is Detective Scala, may I borrow a moment of your time?” He greeted with a plastered smile on his face.

  “Good morning, Detective, I’m in a bit of a hurry now, as I have an appointment in one hour, but if you need to ask me a question, I’m at your availability. Otherwise, we can set up a meeting in the afternoon.” She hurried to the elevator.

  “Can I ask you one question right now? I would also need to meet with you later this afternoon. Will it be ok if I come to your apartment at three o’clock?” he asked, avoiding glancing at Leonardo, as he knew he had that mocking ‘told ya’ stare.

  “Of course, at that time, I will certainly be back home,” she replied, checking one more time to have everything she might need during that meeting.

  A smile relaxed Maurizio’s frown. “So, I was wondering about your daughter...” She never talked about her family back in Hungary, and he was expecting that question to stir up the waters a bit. That was the first personal question he asked her besides the relationship she had with the victim.

  For one second Madlen’s blood boiled in her veins, wondering why he was now questioning her about her daughter. “Do you mean Irina?”

  Maurizio grinned victoriously at Leonardo, “Yes, is she living with you?”

  “No, she’s in Hungary. After I divorced my ex-husband, I sent her to live with my sister. There she would have had a more normal life than she would have had here with me.” With a sigh she relived her memories, and the feeling of loneliness for not having her in her everyday life grew stronger in her heart. “She was very young, and I knew what her life would be like once she started attending school. Her classmates would surely come to know her mother was working in a night club and she would have been bullied constantly, shaming her for the career I chose for myself. She didn’t deserve to suffer for my choices, so I agreed with my sister that she would live in her household and I would pay for her education and personal expenses. I called her every day to know how she was doing and to make sure she had everything she needed. I wanted her to know that her mother didn’t reject her.”

  Maurizio turned serious as the only emotions he could clearly grab from her voice were regret and sadness. Yet, I’m wondering whether we are talking about the same girl. Perhaps it’s a coincidence that Luciano’s girlfriend’s name is Irina. Besides, it’s quite a common name and I bet if I’m looking through all the exchange students at the University or at the daughters of immigrants, I will find at least a hundred girls with the same name.

  “I understand. Did she ever travel to meet you? How old is she?” Maurizio pursued, intrigued to know more about that woman and her past. Particularly, he needed to know something about her ex-husband, whether he could have had a jealous reason to kill Claudio Calvani.

  “She is now 23 years old. Every now and then she comes to spend some time here, but never more than a couple of weeks for the holidays. She finished her studies and is now looking for a job, but also considering the possibility of going to the University.” She reached her car, and switching on the hands-free system, she started to drive to the offices of the insurance company. “She has a double passport, so she thought perhaps it would have been better to study here and then return back to Hungary. She is young and needs some time to focus on what she wants in her life.”

  “Of course,” Maurizio mumbled, crossing his legs. His eyes met a pen lying on the table, and he leaned forward to grab it.

  Promptly Leonardo snatched it, knowing he would have, otherwise, started ticking it against the desk, something that could drive him crazy. A disappointed pout brought a shadow on
Maurizio’s face. “I guess that’s all for the moment. I will meet you this afternoon at three o’clock, then.”

  “Yes, see you later, Detective,” she said, quitting the conversation.

  “So, what’s the news?” Leonardo wondered.

  “She indeed has a daughter called Irina, but according to what she said, she’s in Hungary, so I find it difficult for her to be the same girl Mrs. Moretti was talking about. Nevertheless, she also said her daughter comes home from time to time to see her and spends in Italy a couple of weeks. She is twenty-three years old, and she’s still thinking about her future, whether she wants to frequent the University here in Rome or to find a job directly.” Maurizio shook his head, still trying to fit that information together. “I also wonder about the father of the girl. She was married once, but she divorced. I guess I’ll have to ask her about her husband. If he’s still living here, he might have had a good reason for killing Mr. Calvani.”

  Leonardo nodded, “So, before we only had two possible suspects, now we have four. This is brilliant; I can’t wait to see how many more had a reason to kill that poor man. Luciano wasn’t missing anything and could have lived his wealthy life carelessly for another five years, and then slowly entering into the business of his father. Then there’s the girlfriend. What kind of connection are you considering for her?” Leonardo didn’t get the idea behind her possible involvement and was curious to know Maurizio’s point of view.

  “I’m not saying this is the truth, but think for a moment. Luciano is a wealthy and nice-looking guy. He likes to show off his money, particularly when he secretly borrows his father’s Lamborghini.” Maurizio started to explain. “Now that’s a car that doesn’t go unnoticed, and a girl might be tempted to snatch the opportunity. I haven’t seen her, but if she remotely resembles her mother, then she has more than one chance to reach the heart of any young man.”

  Shaking his head, Leonardo didn’t consider it a good reason to kill. “If it’s true, and I repeat it, IF, why wouldn’t she try and get pregnant by Luciano, so to force him to marry her? What kind of advantage would she get from killing Mr. Calvani? Sorry, but this makes no sense!”

  “That’s true, but what if Luciano and Irina were planning together the assassination of the father?” Maurizio wondered. “No, you’re right,” he added after a short pause to consider the facts. “There’s absolutely no reason that would lead to her involvement.”

  “Another thing to consider is the murder weapon, a Beretta APX. Luciano doesn’t have a license. His only way to get his hands on such a weapon would have been through illegal channels. Nevertheless, only experienced criminals have access to those channels. Firearms aren’t sold in the same way you get hashish or marijuana. You don’t get it from a friend of yours who knows a guy, who got ‘good stuff’ from a friend at the disco.” Maurizio continued.

  “Following this train of thoughts, none of the suspects would have had the chance to get his or her hands on such a firearm,” Leonardo objected.

  Averting his eyes from Leonardo, glancing at the door as if attracted by a noise coming from the corridor, Maurizio said, “I figure it out to be easier for a stripper to get to know people in such an environment where she could easily get a weapon, more so than Luciano.

  I think the most suitable suspects at this point are Ms. Fazekas, and eventually her former husband. We need to trace his position, because something tells me, he might have a role in this. He might be the one who would have had the opportunity to get the weapon.”

  In his mind, Maurizio placed everything in order, together with all the laboratory results obtained by the forensics on the car, the house, and the crime scene.

  “The laboratory tests we performed on the suspects’ hands to find traces of gunpowder resulted all negative, but this, once again, doesn’t mean they are innocent, but they were wearing latex gloves… If only we could find the gun…” Maurizio pondered. “We have to deal with someone who has carefully followed all the Police procedurals movies.”

  Leonardo grinned. “Something meant to entertain gave an advantage to those ill-intentioned.”

  With a long exhale, Maurizio stood from the chair. “There are a lot of things we need to focus on. The most important part now is to answer the following questions: ‘Who is Madlen’s ex-husband and where was he on the day of the murder? Who is Luciano’s girlfriend, is she Madlen’s daughter or another Irina? Was she in Hungary the night of the murder? Can we find her and have a chat with her?’” He counted on his fingers as he started pacing in circles around the room.

  “One place to start, is to ask permission to track and record all the telephone calls Madlen receives. We also need to obtain the past call logs, who called her and from where. This will place the daughter to a precise unmistakable location,” Leonardo pointed out.

  As Maurizio returned to his room at the Police Precinct, he started immediately to search on the citizen’s register for any information about Madlen’s daughter. She was born in Italy, but I don’t know if her parents had been recognized with Italian citizenship. However, Madlen said that she has a double passport, therefore I can start checking that.

  He should have gone to the chief commissioner’s office to have permission to track all the phone calls of Madlen and Luciano, but he knew it would have resulted in a massive waste of time. Chief commissioner Angelini was the kind of person who could have taken half an hour of chatter to make his point. Conciseness wasn’t certainly one of his best characteristics. With a grimace, squaring his shoulders, he opted for an email.

  His mind returned to Irina. For all the times she returned to Italy, her passport, whether Italian or Hungarian, should have been recorded from the passport control. All of this caused his head to boil. She didn’t need any visa to cross two countries, as passport control between the EU isn’t necessary. However, the authorities can request a list of the passengers.

  He stared at the screen of his computer for a long time, immersed in his considerations, when a call arrived.

  “Scala,” he replied, without caring who was calling him.

  “Good morning, Detective, this is Loredana DeSantis, from the Vitas Insurances.” A soft feminine voice announced. He recalled that was the company Mr. Calvani used for his life insurance.

  “Well, good afternoon, Ms. DeSantis,” he replied. “How can I help you?”

  “To be honest, I think I can help you this time. Yesterday we received a call from Ms. Fazekas, one of the beneficiaries of the life insurance stipulated by Mr. Calvani. We just had a meeting, and she left a couple of minutes ago, asking about the process to be followed to obtain the fund. By our rule, in this case, we need to have a statement from the Police about her non-involvement in the murder. Yet, she was quite anxious and willing to reach a compromise and get half of what she was entitled to.”

  That can be an interesting detail, he thought.

  “At the moment, we don’t have any concrete proof against Ms. Fazekas’ involvement in the murder. Nevertheless, it’s still too early to come to a conclusion.” He needed some time and had to wait until he could talk to her in the afternoon. “Since the case concerns a murder, I would ask you to wait before releasing the settlements, both to Mr. Calvani junior and to Ms. Fazekas,” he said, thinking about the changed situation. “Did he contact you?” He wondered, hoping to get a wider image of the situation.

  “He called once to understand the procedure to receive the allotment, but he never tried to get his hands on it. He was well-informed about the fact that until the case is solved, we’re not willing to release anything,” her voice quite categorical.

  “So why did you have a meeting with Ms. Fazekas?” He narrowed his eyes, wondering whether they were trying to get a good deal on that, losing the rules in favor of paying less than the established amount.

  “She wanted to talk with one of our representatives and didn’t mention the reason why she wanted to meet. We don’t have any reason to deny a face-to-face meeting when our cus
tomers ask for explanations. Some of them prefer to talk on the telephone, some are satisfied with an email, and others need to see a physical person explaining the procedure and the requirements.”

  According to the way she toughened her voice, it seemed as though she could have seen Maurizio’s doubting expression.

  “Fine, let me know when or if Mr. Calvani asks for his share. I understand perhaps this may never happen as it seems that neither he has any need for cash or any hurry whatsoever. Nevertheless, I would appreciate your cooperation.” Maurizio concluded, ready to return to his speculations and get ready to meet Madlen in the early afternoon.

  Smirking, Ms. DeSantis shook her head. It was true that as an insurance company, their duty was mostly getting the maximum profit possible. For many people, this might sound unfair and could be seen as a way to cheat them. The reality is that most of the time we are targets of scams, and we need to shield our business from them, she considered.

  “We will let you know about every move any of the beneficiaries will make,” she assured.

  “That will be enough. Thank you for your call and have a nice day.”

  Placing his telephone back on the desk, Maurizio considered the new details. This woman will have to explain her rush to obtain the money. However, there are also many things that don’t fit and will be enough to take her out of the list of the suspects...I predict at least ten kilograms drop in my weight, he considered as his stomach already started to complain about his delay in feeding it.

  “Have patience, my friend, this evening, Anna will prepare us something good,” he promised, glancing at his belly.

  CHAPTER 12

  Madlen couldn’t stop thinking about the meeting she would have with Detective Scala. She was sure he couldn’t find anything to tie her to the murder, but perhaps he might have heard about her visit to the Insurance company.

 

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