The Cold Summer

by Gianrico Carofiglio

  QUESTION When you left on these expeditions, were you using cocaine?

  ANSWER No. Actually, one of the Losurdos wanted to, but I dissuaded him. Cocaine gives an illusion of lucidity, but when the effect wears off it can be very dangerous if you have to undertake a military-style operation. We would consume it on the way back, as a pick-me-up: as I have told you, we had kept a hundred grams from the consignment sold to Bevilacqua.

  QUESTION Were the operations themselves carried out in jacket and tie?

  ANSWER No. We had disposable builders’ overalls which we took off after the operation and threw in rubbish bins. We also wore balaclavas and rubber gloves. We disposed of these in the same way.

  QUESTION Could you clarify why you wore overalls, balaclavas and rubber gloves?

  ANSWER To reduce to a minimum the risk of contamination from gunshot residue. Having been the object of various murder investigations in the past, and also having discussed this several times with others in the clan, I was aware that the first check the police do on a suspect after an act of violence is a test to ascertain the possible presence – on the hands, the hair or the clothes – of gunshot residue. Covering ourselves in that way, we greatly reduced the risk that if we were stopped it might be possible to ascertain that we had fired guns.

  QUESTION Tell us about the first operation you carried out.

  ANSWER We decided to hit Gennaro Carbone, known as the Cue because of his love of pool. He was one of Grimaldi’s most trusted men (he had reached the third rank, but had been promised promotion to the fourth) and his job consisted, first of all, in collecting and distributing the money intended for the families of prisoners. He also ran an amusement arcade in Palese, at the back of which was a very lucrative clandestine gambling den. For that reason, he was always there and often stood outside the arcade. He would be an easy target, and the operation would not require any planning. Moreover, it should be said that he was the cousin of Mario Abbinante – one of the men who had executed Losurdo – and so an operation against him was also a specific act of revenge. We had considered the possibility of directly hitting Grimaldi, but it would have been very difficult, given that he is always very cautious and always has bodyguards with him when he goes out. He is also under special surveillance and has to report every day to police headquarters. We had thought of hitting him on the way back from there, but we dismissed the idea as being too dangerous. Anyway, our plan of action against Carbone was flexible. If we had met any of Losurdo’s killers or any high-ranking member of Grimaldi’s clan on the street, perhaps even in the vicinity of the amusement arcade, we would have attacked them. As did in fact happen, although not on our first expedition.

  QUESTION Let us keep to chronological order. Tell us about the operation against Carbone.

  ANSWER As I have already mentioned, we stole a small but powerful car, in this case a Renault 5 GT Turbo. We left in the afternoon, dressed in jackets and ties. We had the Kalashnikov and the Skorpion with us in the boot, already loaded and ready to fire. We also had the overalls and the rest of the gear. I was carrying the .44 Magnum. We drove past Carbone’s arcade and saw him next to the entrance, as was his habit and as we expected. Together with him was another of Grimaldi’s men, named Dangella, a recent affiliate, with the second rank, but promised promotion to the Sgarro. We decided to kill both of them.

  QUESTION How did you proceed?

  ANSWER We went and changed in a garage in the immediate vicinity to which we had the keys. We took off our jackets, put on the overalls – which are very easy to put on and take off – and all the rest. Then we quickly drove back to the arcade. When we got there, we saw that Dangella had left – or perhaps had simply gone inside – but Carbone was still there. Pasquale Losurdo remained behind the wheel, while Antonio Losurdo and I got out of the car. When he saw us coming, Carbone did not immediately realize that we were there for him, or at least gave no indication that he had realized. I almost had the impression that he was about to say something to us, perhaps to ask us who we were or what we wanted. Losurdo let off a burst of machine-gun fire, and Carbone fell to the ground. I went closer and shot him twice with the .44. Then we got straight back in the car and quickly drove away. As we escaped, we took off the overalls and put them with all the rest in a large rubbish bag, which we threw in a dustbin after a few miles. Then we went and dropped the weapons in the usual cupa and drove back to Pescara. We got there at night, abandoned the car – after cleaning it – not far from where we had taken it and went back to the house on foot.

  QUESTION Were you aware that a passerby was wounded in the course of that operation?

  ANSWER Yes, we heard about it on the radio, on the way back.

  QUESTION Tell us about the second expedition.

  ANSWER It was a week later. We had decided to seek out one of Grimaldi’s trusted men who controlled Enziteto, in charge among other things of the unauthorized occupation of municipal apartments. It is a very lucrative business – there are a great many illegally occupied municipal apartments – but above all a basic way of controlling the territory.

  QUESTION What do you mean?

  ANSWER Managing the municipal apartments, deciding who is allowed one and who has to be evicted, is an important manifestation of criminal power. If you are in a position to do something like that, you are effectively the law in a particular area. As if you were the State or the mayor, or a judge. You are the person who is really in charge of the place, you are the one people need to go to, not only to buy drugs or engage in other criminal activities, but also to resolve disputes, to obtain the things due to you that the State is not able to guarantee. Hitting someone who was in charge of this important area of criminal activity would be an act of war with strong symbolic value. It would mean attacking the control of the territory at its core.

  QUESTION So you planned this operation. How did it go?

  ANSWER We left Pescara in the morning and set off for Enziteto. On the way, we dropped by the cupa where we had hidden the weapons. We drove around Enziteto for an hour, but did not encounter anyone. A lot of people noticed us, which we did not mind, because it meant that everyone knew we were there and were launching our challenge. We could not do it for too long, though, because there was a risk that Grimaldi’s men would arrive in force or that someone would inform the Carabinieri. To cut a long story short, after an hour of fruitless driving around, we left with nothing accomplished.

  QUESTION Let us move on to the third expedition.

  ANSWER It took place three days later, I think, and it was very similar to the second one, except that we went to Enziteto in the evening. In this case we succeeded in locating one of Grimaldi’s trusted men, Francesco Andriani, but he noticed us in time. We got out of the car and fired, but from a distance, and he managed to get away by taking shelter in an apartment building.

  On the fourth expedition, we went to a jeweller’s shop in San Girolamo, which belonged to Grimaldi even though it was in someone else’s name, and robbed it. I should point out that among us there was a debate about what to do, in the sense that one of the Losurdos also wanted to kneecap the jeweller, who in fact was only an assistant. To be more specific: the jeweller was the original owner of the shop, but had had to resort to loan sharks, was unable to pay the enormous interest demanded and in the end had been forced to give up his activity, while remaining the official owner and continuing to work there, but only as an employee.

  QUESTION You said there was a debate between you about whether or not to kneecap the jeweller.

  ANSWER Antonio Losurdo wanted to shoot him in the legs, but I said it was not right. The jeweller was not affiliated with Grimaldi. In fact, in his way, he was one of Grimaldi’s victims, therefore it was not right to hurt him. The other Losurdo agreed with me, so the idea was rejected.

  QUESTION When did you find out about the kidnapping of young Damiano Grimaldi?

  ANSWER Two days after the last expedition, the one in which there was a shootout in Enziteto.
At the point at which that happened, the kidnapping had already taken place, but we did not know that.

  QUESTION Tell us about that episode.

  ANSWER We had gone back to Enziteto, once again in search of Grimaldi’s associates or, possibly, lieutenants. We had been driving around without any result for nearly half an hour when we noticed a BMW with four men on board. Among them, I recognized two, of whom at the moment I can remember only the nicknames: Pelé and Crazy Gino. The other two I could not see well, so I did not recognize them. Pelé and Crazy Gino are both very dangerous characters, who specialize in robbing security vans. They are not affiliates, but they are very friendly with Grimaldi. When they saw us they stopped their car and all got out, armed with pistols and a rifle. I was behind the wheel of our car; I spun it around and managed to get our car into a partly sheltered position behind a lorry.

  QUESTION How were you able to do a manoeuvre like that in a city street?

  ANSWER We were not in a normal city street. We were in Enziteto, where the streets are wider and clearer. Many blocks do not even have cars parked on them.

  QUESTION What happened after that?

  ANSWER All three of us got out and started shooting wildly. They did the same. I cannot tell you how long the encounter lasted, probably ten seconds at the most. A number of bullets hit our car, but none of us was hurt. I cannot say if any of them were hit. I did not see anybody fall to the ground.

  QUESTION How did that episode end?

  ANSWER During a pause in the shooting – both sides had emptied their weapons – we got back in the car and drove away. They tried to follow us, but I soon managed to lose them. I think in reality they gave up following us because it was too dangerous, partly because the police or the Carabinieri might have intervened.

  QUESTION What did you do with the car?

  ANSWER We burnt it near San Ferdinando di Puglia. Obviously, we could not do as we had done with the others, that is, leave it where we had stolen it to ensure that it was recovered. Before disposing of it, we dropped the weapons in the cupa, the one I led you to.

  QUESTION How did you get back to Abruzzo?

  ANSWER In San Ferdinando, I had a friend and comrade, Giuseppe Curci. I called him and told him that I had an emergency and needed a clean car. He did not ask any questions – apart from anything else, he owed me a number of favours – and within half an hour he had one of his men bring me a Fiat Ritmo, in which we returned to Pescara.

  QUESTION Was Curci aware of the war that you had launched against Grimaldi?

  ANSWER I have no idea. I certainly did not mention it to him, and he did not ask any questions.

  QUESTION We were talking about when and how you came to hear about the kidnapping of the boy.

  ANSWER Yes. After the shootout of which I have just spoken, some of Grimaldi’s men went to the house of my wife’s sister, beat up her husband Raffaele De Bellis, shot him in the legs and told him that, if the boy was not handed back immediately, they would return, rape and kill his wife in front of him, then burn him alive. Obviously, he had no idea what they were talking about, but they told him to pass on the message.

  QUESTION Is your brother-in-law involved in criminal activities?

  ANSWER No, he is a quiet lad, completely clean, who works as a bricklayer. My wife’s sister called her on her mobile and told her everything. My wife became very angry with me and asked me what was going on and if we really had kidnapped a child. I was flabbergasted and swore to her that we had nothing to do with it, that I knew nothing about it.

  QUESTION What did you do then?

  ANSWER I made a few telephone calls to people I trusted. They told me that Grimaldi’s son had been kidnapped by someone who had demanded a ransom. Everyone thought it had been us, and both Grimaldi’s men and the various law enforcement agencies were looking for us.

  QUESTION What did you think?

  ANSWER I got very worried. When I told the Losurdos, they both went into a panic and, after long discussions, they said that they wanted to get out of there. There was no way to dissuade them. Besides, they were not wrong. With what was happening, the situation was becoming very difficult to sustain. It was one thing waging war on Grimaldi, although that was dangerous enough in itself; it was quite another being suspected of an exceptionally serious operation like the kidnapping of a child and being the targets in a manhunt that united the Grimaldi clan and the law enforcement agencies.

  QUESTION Did the Losurdos leave?

  ANSWER Yes. They asked me for their share of the kitty, that is, the money from the cocaine and the proceeds from the robbery of the jeweller’s shop. Realizing that it was impossible to make them change their minds, I handed over the money and they left, with the intention of crossing the Adriatic and settling in Montenegro, where they have a cousin involved in cigarette smuggling and where there is no danger of their being arrested and extradited.

  QUESTION Where is the share of the money that you kept for yourself?

  ANSWER I left it with my wife.

  QUESTION Are you aware that you will have to surrender the money to us, as well as the proceeds from all the other illegitimate activities in which you were involved, and that this is a condition of your receiving the benefits of your cooperation?

  ANSWER Yes, I am aware of that. I confirm that I intend to cooperate fully, including in the matter of assets.

  QUESTION Do you know if the Losurdos managed to reach Montenegro?

  ANSWER I have no idea. I have not heard from them.

  QUESTION At this point, what did you decide to do?

  ANSWER The situation quickly came to a head. The police had found the burnt-out and bullet-riddled car we had used for the last expedition and had traced it back to the area where it had been stolen.

  QUESTION How did you find out about this?

  ANSWER Bevilacqua told me. He came to see me. He was very worried. The police and the Carabinieri were causing a lot of trouble in the area with searches and roadblocks, and he had realized that it was all to do with us. He asked us to leave the house as soon as possible. He did not care about what I had done, but he did not want to be involved.

  QUESTION And you?

  ANSWER We did not have much choice. Even if we had not agreed, it was impossible to stay if Bevilacqua did not want us there. Apart from being our host, he was, in a way, the boss of the territory. He could have come with his men and got us out by force, or else he could have informed the police or the Carabinieri of our presence. But apart from that, I myself was convinced of the need to leave: it was just a matter of time before the police and the Carabinieri found us. So I reassured Bevilacqua that we would leave the house within a few hours.

  QUESTION How did you arrange things?

  ANSWER I took my wife and son to some relatives of ours who lived near Piacenza, where you later went to get them to take them to the safe location. When we got there, I heard on the radio the news that the boy’s body had been found. At that point I realized I had no choice. After a few hours’ rest I got back in my car, drove back down here, contacted a carabiniere I had known for a while and informed him of my intentions. That same evening, I met with you for the first interview.

  QUESTION We are now going to show you an album of photographs. For each photograph, tell us if you recognize the person shown, if you know his name and/ or his nickname, and if he is someone who belongs to the organization of which Grimaldi is the boss or to any other criminal group. Where you are not sure that you recognize him, please say so.

  Lopez begins to examine said album.

  At 18.50, before proceeding with the identifications, but after the interviewee has already viewed the first pages of the photograph album, the interview is suspended for serious reasons unrelated to the object of the present procedure.

  Read, confirmed and signed.

  14

  Lopez had just started looking through the photograph album when someone knocked at the door.

  “Come in,” D’Angelo said,
suppressing a gesture of annoyance at the interruption.

  The door opened slowly and Colonel Morelli looked in. It was the first time he’d put in an appearance since the interviews with Lopez had begun. The other carabinieri got to their feet. So did Lopez after a few moments. Morelli didn’t come in.

  “I’m sorry, dottoressa, may I speak with you for a moment?”

  There was something strange about the colonel’s hesitant tone. Morelli was normally very military in the way he moved and spoke. Lacking in halftones, perfectly commensurate with the traditional idea of how a commanding officer should behave.

  Now, though, his voice and movements were uncertain; and he was alone. This, too, was unusual, Fenoglio thought. Commanding officers rarely go about on their own; there is always someone with them, as if to symbolically underline their role in the hierarchy they represent.

  That afternoon, though, Morelli was alone. No hierarchy, no symbols, no rituals. Something was wrong.

  D’Angelo looked around for a few seconds. “Of course,” she said, getting to her feet and picking up her packet of cigarettes.

  “You too, Valente,” the colonel said to the captain, disappearing into the corridor.

  “The colonel looked odd,” Pellecchia commented after a few minutes’ silence.

  “What can have happened?” Avvocato Formica asked.

  Something very serious, Fenoglio thought. Someone had been murdered, maybe a relative of Lopez’s. Something had happened that was bringing the situation to a head.

  D’Angelo came back some ten minutes later, without the captain. Her eyes were moist and there was a lost expression on her face. She seemed to recognize neither the room nor the people in it.

  “We have to suspend the interview. I mean, we have to … We can’t continue.”

  “What happened, dottoressa?”

  She didn’t reply. She probably didn’t even hear Fenoglio’s voice. “Write this, sergeant,” she said, staring straight ahead. “At” – she looked at her watch, staring for several seconds at the dial – “18.50, before proceeding with the identifications, but after the interviewee has already viewed the first pages of the photograph album, the interview is suspended for serious reasons unrelated to the object of the present procedure.”