The Cold Summer

by Gianrico Carofiglio

  QUESTION What did he say?

  ANSWER That the bastard had deserved it, but that he was sorry about the dogs. And above all, he was sorry about mine.

  QUESTION Why?

  ANSWER He said that it had been a fine dog, and a brave one. That when Losurdo had set the dogs on them my dog had been the first to attack and had kept going even after they had shot it. Now I know I am about to say something wrong, I realize that, but the moment I really thought I wanted Grimaldi dead was not when he told me he had killed Losurdo, but when he told me he had killed my dog.

  QUESTION What did you do then?

  ANSWER By this point, I had made up my mind. So I acted cautiously. Against Grimaldi’s obvious expectations, I did not fly into a rage and only repeated that they should have eliminated Losurdo when my dog was not there. Grimaldi appeared relieved and said that I was right, that about this he had been mistaken. He said that he wanted to buy me another dog, a pedigree dog, that we should go together and choose it from the breeders, things like that.

  QUESTION What did you reply?

  ANSWER That right now I did not want another dog, what I wanted was to know where they had put Losurdo’s body. I wanted to recover it so that there could be a funeral and his wife and relatives would have somewhere to mourn him. He told me – and these are his exact words – that not even the Virgin Mary would be able to find the body.

  QUESTION Why?

  ANSWER Because they had burnt it – and had also burnt the dogs – in a dump, using old tyres as fuel. It was a method he had learnt from people in Trani, who often employed it to get rid of bodies.

  QUESTION Why had they burnt him?

  ANSWER Grimaldi always said that if there was no body, there was no murder. He meant that if the law enforcement agencies did not find the body, they could not bring charges for murder, because there would always be a doubt about the death. Having said this, I think Grimaldi liked playing with fire. Literally. I do not know quite how to put this, but it seemed almost that he took a kind of pleasure in looking at fire. When we killed Curly and set fire to him he watched the flames with satisfaction and said smugly: “Look how he burns.” He was obsessed with fire. What is the word?

  QUESTION Do you mean pyromaniac?

  ANSWER Yes. He always liked to talk about the times when, as a young man, he set fire to shops whose owners had refused to pay protection. He would throw the Molotov cocktail and then stand watching the flames. Sometimes he had even run serious risks – he had told me – in lingering longer than necessary to look at the fire.

  QUESTION What did you reply when Grimaldi told you he had burnt the body?

  ANSWER As I have said, I had already made up my mind. So I had no desire for Grimaldi to know my true feelings. But nor could I show indifference about something that clearly involved me quite a lot. I had to find a point of balance. So I merely showed displeasure at the fact that Losurdo’s body had been destroyed by fire. In this way, his family had been denied the possibility of a funeral or the chance to visit their loved one’s grave.

  QUESTION Did you ask him who had actually carried out the murder?

  ANSWER Yes, immediately afterwards. I asked him who had gone with him – it was clear from what he had said so far that he himself was there – and what method had been used.

  QUESTION What did he reply?

  ANSWER At first he was evasive. He said something like: He is dead and gone now, why are we still talking about him? We need to think of the future. But I insisted: if he did not tell me, he would be showing me a lack of respect, which seemed to persuade him. And so he told me.

  QUESTION What did he tell you?

  ANSWER There were four of them, Grimaldi in person, Capocchiani, a fellow from Trani whom I do not know, and Abbinante, the man who had killed D’Agostino. They knew that in the afternoon Losurdo went to feed the dogs and they knew that the place where he kept them was isolated and a long way from prying eyes. So they followed him when he left home. First he dropped by my place to collect my dog because, as I have said, he used to take it with him to let it run and enjoy itself when I was away. They stayed behind him as he drove through the countryside, keeping at a distance.

  When Losurdo saw them coming, he called to the dogs. The men got out of the cars and Grimaldi told him to put the dogs on leads. He did not do so, and asked Grimaldi why they were there.

  QUESTION Did Grimaldi tell you all this?

  ANSWER Partly Grimaldi, partly Capocchiani.

  QUESTION When you went to see Grimaldi, was Capocchiani also there?

  ANSWER No, I spoke to Capocchiani the following day. He told me more or less what Grimaldi had told me, although in a little more detail. The four men arrived and told Losurdo they had to talk and so it was only right that he should tie up the dogs. But Losurdo did not do so. Grimaldi told me that the dogs went and stood in front of him, as if to protect him. He had realized that something was wrong, and he told the four men not to come any closer because if they did he would set the dogs on them. Capocchiani took out his gun and again ordered him to tie up the dogs or else he would kill them. It was at this point – I believe – that Losurdo fully realized why they had come to see him and, in a desperate attempt to escape the ambush, ordered the dogs to attack. As they ran forward, he started to run in the opposite direction. There was a first burst of gunfire, in which the dogs were killed. Abbinante and the man from Trani were wounded, because the dogs had managed to bite them before dying. Then Grimaldi and Capocchiani ran after Losurdo. They fired at him several times and managed to hit him. He staggered and fell. They reached him and killed him, shooting him several times in the head.

  QUESTION All this happened in open country. Were they not afraid that a passing person, a farm worker perhaps, might see them?

  ANSWER As I said before, it is a very isolated area, where it is unlikely that anyone would pass by chance. In that very area, to show you how far out of the way it was, in previous years some guys from Bitonto had kept an enormous plantation of cannabis. They cultivated it for more than two years without anybody noticing a thing.

  QUESTION Is the plantation still there?

  ANSWER No, they decided to stop cultivating it for reasons that I do not know. But it is true that nobody ever noticed that plantation, and we are talking about several hectares of land. So as I was saying, that was the reason the area had been chosen for the attack. Having said this, there is no doubt that the situation had got out of the hands of Grimaldi and his men. They had not planned on the reaction of the dogs and they were certain that they would do everything just outside the farmhouse, not go on a prolonged chase through the countryside.

  QUESTION What did they do after killing Losurdo?

  ANSWER I should point out that this part of the story was told to me by Capocchiani the following day.

  QUESTION Before continuing, would you tell us how your conversation with Grimaldi ended?

  ANSWER Yes. Basically, he told me that they had disposed of the bodies of Losurdo and the dogs by burning them. I did not ask him any further questions because I was disgusted by the whole thing. So I concluded by repeating to Grimaldi that I was not happy about what had happened, but that life and business had to continue. He repeated to me in his turn that he was sorry about the dog and would make it up to me. Then he asked me what we should do to recover the cocaine that I had collected in Rozzano. I replied that I could recover it the next day, and he told me that Capocchiani would go with me. It was what I had been expecting, and at that moment I decided that I would begin my revenge by killing Capocchiani, whom I had always hated anyway.

  QUESTION What happened the next day?

  ANSWER Capocchiani picked me up in a car belonging to a nephew of his. I had taken care to arrange for him to pick me up far from my home, specifically in the vicinity of the Quintino Sella underpass, in order to reduce the risk of our being seen together. I had two guns with me: a Beretta 6.35 and a .38 Tanfoglio. They are two of the weapons I led you to. Ca
pocchiani seemed in a very good mood. I gave him directions to the place where I had said I had hidden the cocaine, although in fact it was not there. During the ride I asked him to tell me about the killing of Losurdo and especially about how they had disposed of the body.

  QUESTION Did this not make Capocchiani suspicious?

  ANSWER No. It should be said that Capocchiani was not especially intelligent. He owed his reputation to the fact that he was a madman, capable of the most daring acts and the most ruthless behaviour. Apart from that, out of pure luck, until that day he had escaped a number of ambushes, and this had contributed to his fame. Besides, it was quite natural for me to ask about what had happened.

  QUESTION So Capocchiani was quite willing to talk?

  ANSWER Very much so. Grimaldi had already informed him that I knew. And he liked to boast.

  QUESTION Tell us what he told you and if it differed in any way from Grimaldi’s account.

  ANSWER His account of the killing of Losurdo and the dogs was practically identical to Grimaldi’s. But Capocchiani also told me in detail how and where they had disposed of the bodies of Losurdo and the dogs.

  QUESTION Where did they take the bodies?

  ANSWER To an unauthorized dump between Trani and Bisceglie where drums of toxic waste from Northern Italy were dumped, along with wrecked cars and objects of all kinds. They laid down tyres as a base, put Losurdo and the dogs on it, covered them with more tyres and set fire to them. It is unusual for the tyres to go out, even if it rains; with this method, nothing remains of the bodies.

  QUESTION Did they remove anything from Losurdo’s body? Papers, his watch, anything like that?

  ANSWER They did not tell me. But I doubt it: there was no reason to do so.

  QUESTION To transport the bodies, had they been placed in the car boots?

  ANSWER Correct. After the bodies were completely burnt, Grimaldi and the others – who had watched the burning until the end – went and cleaned the cars.

  QUESTION Why not burn the cars?

  ANSWER That is the usual procedure when the car used for an operation is stolen. In this case, though, the two cars were not stolen, but belonged to Abbinante and the man from Trani. The discovery and identification of the burnt-out wrecks (through the chassis numbers, which often withstand burning) would have drawn attention to the two men. You also need to take into account the fact that Losurdo’s body had been completely burnt and his disappearance would be classified as a gangland execution.

  QUESTION So they had used their own cars for this murder?

  ANSWER It does happen. When murders have been planned for some time stolen cars are used, which are then burnt. In this case the act was decided on following my departure to collect the cocaine in Rozzano. As I have already said repeatedly, Grimaldi knew that I was not happy about it.

  QUESTION Is it not the case that your departure for Rozzano had been planned for some time?

  ANSWER No, that is not the way it works. When the merchandise arrives, they call you and you go to pick it up. Consignments, partly for obvious reasons of caution, are never planned in advance. Grimaldi had already decided to eliminate Losurdo, but the fact that he was often in my company and that our wives were friends constituted a problem. He could not risk acting in my presence, and he certainly could not ask me to take care of it myself. So he seized the opportunity of my departure and obviously had no way of getting hold of cars. In addition, since they had decided to do it in the country, in the total absence of potential witnesses, the need to use stolen cars was much less strong than for an operation to be carried out in a residential area. I should, however, emphasize that all this is speculation, because I did not ask either Grimaldi or Capocchiani for what reason they had gone to kill Losurdo in the cars belonging to Abbinante and the man from Trani.

  QUESTION You said that they went to clean the cars. Where?

  ANSWER In a car wash.

  QUESTION Were they not afraid that the staff of the car wash would notice the bloodstains there must have been in the cars?

  ANSWER One of Grimaldi’s men was working on day release in the car wash. I remember only his nickname, Kojak, which he owes to the fact that he is completely bald. He was given the job of working carefully on the two cars, on his own. Capocchiani told me that even before taking the cars to be washed, they had disposed of the rugs that had been in the boots where the bodies of Losurdo and the dogs had been placed.

  QUESTION Now tell us about the killing of Capocchiani.

  ANSWER I should say first of all that I did not know whether or not he was armed. Strictly speaking, he should not have been carrying a weapon without a specific reason: to do so meant running the pointless risk of being arrested if stopped by the police or the Carabinieri. But I could not be sure. Moreover, Capocchiani was highly dangerous and capable of the craziest, most absurd gestures. I had once seen him leap on someone who was threatening him with a gun. The other man had pressed the trigger, but the gun had jammed, and Capocchiani had then beaten him to death. I should point out that, in my opinion, such behaviour was not only crazy, it was stupid. The fact, though, that he had survived so many dangerous situations had created around Capocchiani the aura of a legend. Capocchiani had, among other things, an incredible capacity for bearing physical pain. In regard to this, I can tell you another episode. Once the car in which he was travelling together with other men was stopped by the Carabinieri. Capocchiani replied badly to a request from one of the officers, who gave him a slap. Capocchiani said that nothing had been done to him and that they were the slaps of a pansy. He meant: not very manly slaps, which did not hurt. Anyway, to cut a long story short, the carabinieri laid into him, it was a real beating. But with every blow, Capocchiani said that they had not done anything to him, so in the end they had to stop, without his having given in. In short, what I am trying to say is that it had to be taken into consideration that he could act in an unpredictable and uncontrollable way. So I had to be very careful. Moreover, I want to add that Capocchiani, in addition to being a madman devoid of any sense of danger, had a bad temperament. He was the worst. To explain the kind of person he was, I have to tell you about one of his hobbies. He had a couple of his men capture all the stray cats they could find and put them in a room into which he could look through a window, after which he invited some of his friends with pit bulls, freed two of the dogs into the room, and they bet on which one would kill the most cats.

  QUESTION Did you ever witness this?

  ANSWER No. I love animals, and the idea of making them suffer just for the pleasure of it has always disgusted me. I would never have tolerated a spectacle like that without intervening. But what I have told you is widely known.

  QUESTION Did you make your move inside the car?

  ANSWER No. It was impossible to predict what he would do if I pointed a gun at him while he was driving. He would have been quite capable of throwing the car off the road in an attempt to disarm me. Besides, Losurdo’s two brothers, Pasquale and Antonio, were waiting for me at the hiding place. I had got them involved because they wanted to avenge their brother’s death.

  QUESTION Were the Losurdos members of the organization?

  ANSWER Only Pasquale Losurdo, who had the rank of sgarrista. The youngest, Antonio, was a robber, but he had never wanted to join.

  QUESTION Why did the Losurdos agree to go up against a criminal organization as powerful and dangerous as Grimaldi’s? How did you manage to persuade them?

  ANSWER I repeat: they wanted to avenge their brother’s death. I told them what Grimaldi had told me. That would have been enough. Then I added that I had five kilos of cocaine and that we could use it to finance a war against Grimaldi. We would make our base in Abruzzo, in Pescara, where I had friends – Roma who trafficked narcotics and committed robberies – who would help us to sell the cocaine for a good price and would provide us with a safe base. I said that we would carry out the various operations travelling from there and going back there immediately afterw
ards. They would not know where to look for us.

  QUESTION But what were you thinking of doing?

  ANSWER I cannot say for sure. Thinking back on it now, in the cold light of day, the idea of exterminating all of them was absurd and impracticable. But at the time, we imagined that if we managed to kill Grimaldi we would be able to take his place and control Enziteto and Santo Spirito. I did not think I would have any difficulty in getting myself accepted as the new boss by the other criminal groups that ruled over the various areas of Bari: the Parisis, the Capriatis, the Mercantes, the Laraspatas. I had an important rank – the Santa –that was recognized even by the members of other important criminal organizations from outside the region, and I thought that I would be able to explain what had happened and become the new boss of Società Nostra.

  QUESTION Let us get back to the killing of Capocchiani.

  ANSWER We got to the place. I had said that the cocaine was under a trapdoor in an inner courtyard. We got out of the car and set off towards the abandoned warehouse. When we got to within a few yards of the entrance Losurdo’s younger brother came out, armed with a pump-action rifle. It was actually one of the two pump-action rifles in the cache I led you to. Capocchiani turned towards me, as if to ask me what was happening. I had taken out the Tanfoglio in the meantime, and I shot him twice without saying a word. He fell to the ground. I kept my gun aimed at him in case – as I told you – he was armed and was able to retaliate. But he made no attempt to take out a gun and in fact was unarmed, as we ascertained after killing him. Losurdo’s younger brother went up to him, pointed the rifle at his chest and said: “This is for my brother, you piece of shit.” After which, he shot him in the chest two or three times. At that distance the high-calibre bullets actually tore the flesh. Death was instantaneous.

  QUESTION What did you do with the body?

  ANSWER We put it in the car and threw it down a well, after destroying his phone. As far as I know, the body has not yet been found. Naturally, I can take you to the place. After throwing him down the well, we drove his car about twelve miles and set fire to it. Subsequently, we went and hid the weapons in the cache I led you to.