IM8 The Patience of the Spider (2007)

by Andrea Camilleri

  Why had he said hopes? Because hope was what had tipped the scales entirely to one side, in Susannas favor. Because that word was what had finally convinced him.

  The word completely flummoxed the doctor, who wasnt able to say anything. And for the first time, out of the silence and darkness came the girls voice, a hesitant voice, as though laden, indeed, with hope: the hope of being understood, to the bottom of her heart.

  Did you say...hope?

  Yes. The hope that a great capacity for hatred might turn into a great capacity for love.

  From the bench where the girl was sitting he heard a kind of sob, which was immediately stifled. He lit a cigarette and saw, by the lighters glow, that his hand was trembling slightly.

  Want one? he asked the doctor.

  I said no.

  They were firm in their resolutions, these Mistrettas. So much the better.

  I know there was no kidnapping. That evening, you, Susanna, took a different road home, a little-used dirt road, where your uncle was waiting for you in his SUV. You left your motorbike there, got in the car, and crouched down in back. And your uncle drove off to his villa. There, in the building next to the doctors villa, everything had been prepared some time

  before: a bed, provisions, and so on. The cleaning woman had no reason whatsoever to set foot in there. Who would ever have thought of looking for the kidnap victim at her uncles house? And that was where you recorded the messages. Among other things, you, Doctor, in your disguised voice, spoke of billions. Its hard for people over a certain age to get used to thinking in euros. That was also where you shot your Polaroids, on the back of which you wrote some words, trying your best to make your handwriting legible, since, like all doctors handwriting, yours is indecipherable. Ive never been inside that building, Doctor, but I can say for certain that you had a new telephone extension installed

  How can you say that? asked Carlo Mistretta.

  I know because the two of you came up with a truly brilliant idea for averting suspicion. You seized an opportunity on the fly. After learning that I was coming to the villa, Susanna called in the second recorded message, the one specifying the ransom amount, as I was speaking with you. But I heard, without understanding at first, the sound a phone makes when the receiver on an extension is picked up. Anyway, it wouldnt be hard to get confirmation. All I need to do is call the phone company. And that could constitute evidence, Doctor. Shall I go on?

  Yes.

  It was Susanna whod answered.

  I also know, because you told me yourself, Doctor, that there is an old winepress in that building. Thus there must be an adjacent space with the vat for the fermentation of the must. I am willing to bet that this room has a window. Which you, Doctor, opened when you took the snapshot, since it was

  daytime. You also used a mechanics lamp to better illuminate the inside of the vat. But theres one detail you neglected in this otherwise elaborate, convincing production.

  A detail?

  Yes, Doctor. In the photograph, right below the edge of the vat, theres what appears to be a crack. I had that detail enlarged. Its not a crack.

  What is it?

  The inspector could feel that Susanna had been about to ask the same question. They still couldnt figure out where theyd made a mistake. He sensed the motion of the doctors head as it turned toward Susanna, the questioning look in his eyes, even though these things were not visible.

  Its an old fermentation thermometer. Unrecognizable, covered with spiderwebs, blackened, and so encrusted into the wall that it looks like its part of it. And therefore you couldnt see it. But its still there. And this is the conclusive proof. I need only get up, go inside, pick up the phone, have two of my men come and stand guard over you, call the judge for the warrant, and begin searching your villa, Doctor.

  It would be a big step forward for your career, Mistretta said mockingly.

  Once again, youre entirely wrong. My career has no more steps to take, neither forward nor backward. What Im trying to do is not for you, Doctor.

  Are you doing it for me?

  Susanna sounded astonished.

  Yes, for you. Because Ive been spellbound by the quality, the intensity, the purity of your hatred. I am fascinated by the fiendish nature of the thoughts that come into your head, by the coldness and

  courage and patience with which you carried out your intentions, by the way you calculated the price you had to pay and were ready to pay it. And Im also doing it for myself, because its not right that theres always someone who suffers and someone who benefits from the others suffering, with the approval of the so-called law. Can a man, having reached the end of his career, rebel against a state of things he himself has helped to maintain?

  Since the inspector wasnt answering, the girl said something that wasnt even a question.

  The nurse told me you wanted to see Mama.

  I wanted to see her, yes.To see her in bed, wasted away, no longer a body but almost a thing, yet something that groaned, that suffered horribly...Though I didnt realize it at the time, I wanted to see where your hatred had first taken root and grown uncontrollably with the stench of medications, excrement, sweat, sickness, vomit, pus, and gangrene that had devastated the heart of that thing lying in bed.The hatred with which you infected those close to you...But not your fatherno, your father never knew a thing, never knew that it was all a sham...He anguished terribly over what he believed was a real kidnapping...But this, too, was a price you were willing to pay, and to have others pay, because true hatred, like love, doesnt balk at the despair and tears of the innocent.

  I wanted to understand.

  It began to thunder out at sea. The lightning was far away, but the rain was approaching.

  Because the idea of taking revenge on your uncle was first born in that room, on one of those terrible nights you spent taking care of your mother. Isnt that so, Susanna? At first it seemed like an effect of your fatigue, your discouragement, your despair, but soon it became harder and harder to

  get that idea out of your head. And so, almost as a way to kill time, you started thinking of how you might make your obsession a reality. You drew up a plan, night after night. And you asked your uncle to help you, because . . .

  Stop.You cant say that. It just came to you now, this very mo- ment.You need to think it over before

  Say it, the doctor said softly but firmly. Because Susanna realized that I had always been in love with Giulia. It was a love without hope, but it prevented me from having a life of my own.

  And therefore you, Doctor, on impulse, you decided to collaborate on the destruction of Antonio Peruzzos reputation. By manipulating public opinion to perfection. The coup de gr came when you replaced the money-filled suitcase with the duffel full of scrap paper.

  It began to drizzle. Montalbano stood up.

  Before leaving, to set my conscience at rest . . .

  His voice came out too solemnly, but he was unable to change it.

  To set my conscience at rest, I cannot allow those six billion lire to remain in

  In our hands? Susanna finished his sentence. The money is no longer here. We didnt even keep the money that was lent by Mama and never given back. Uncle Carlo took care of it, with the help of a client of his, who will never talk. It was divided up, and by now most of it has already been transferred abroad. Its supposed to be sent anonymously to about fifty different humanitarian organizations. If you want, I can go in the house and get the list.

  Fine, said the inspector. Im leaving.

  He indistinctly saw the doctor and the girl stand up as well.

  Are you coming to the funeral tomorrow? asked Susanna. I would really like

  No, said the inspector. My only wish is that you, Susanna, do not betray my hope.

  He realized he was talking like an old man, but this time he didnt give a damn.

  Good luck, he said in a soft voice.

  He turned his back to them, went out to his car, opened the door, turned on the ignition, and d
rove, but had to stop almost at once in front of the closed gate. He saw the girl come running under the now driving rain, her hair seeming to light up like fire when caught in the glare of the headlights. She opened the gate without turning around to look at him. And he, too, looked away.

  On the road back to Marinella, the rain started falling in buckets. At a certain point he had to pull over because the windshield wipers couldnt handle it. Then it stopped all at once. Entering the dining room, he realized hed left the French door to the veranda open, and the floor had got all wet. He would have to mop it up. He turned on the outdoor light and went outside. The violent rainstorm had washed away the spiderweb. The shrubs branches were sparkling clean and dripping wet.

  AUTHORS NOTE

  This story is invented from top to bottom, at least I hope it is.

  Therefore the names of the characters and business, and the situations and events of the book, have no connection to reality.

  If anyone should find some reference to real events, I can assure you this was not intentional.

  A. C.

  NOTES

  5 he couldnt bring himself to go see the notary: In Italy a notary (notaio) performs functions of probate and contract law, among other things.

  7 The poor man, not knowing how much hed bled, / kept on fighting when in fact he was dead: Il poveruom, che non se nera accorto,/ andava combattendo ed era morto. Two lines from a traditional Italian song.

  16 a triumphant member of the party in power: I.e., the party called Forza Italia, the right-wing political entity created by media tycoon Silvio Berlusconi, who was still in power when this book was written.

  19 Go see if it was the traffic police!: In Italy the jurisdiction of the Vigili Urbani (the municipal police), which includes the traffic police, is separate from that of the Commissariato di Pubblico Sicurezza (Commissariat of Public Safety), the branch of the police for which Montalbano works. The Carabinieri (the national police), the Guardia di Finanza (here translated as Customs police), and the Polizia Stradale (or road police) also have separate jurisdictions, which often leads to petty rivalries and bureaucratic confusion.

  32 Matre santa!: Holy mother! A Sicilian invocation of the Blessed Virgin.

  38 will be handled by Inspector Minutolo, who, being a Calabrian . . .What? Minutolo was from Alin Messina

  province: Messina is in Sicily, not Calabria. The region of Calabria, across the Strait of Messina from Sicily, is notorious for its kidnappings.

  38-39 that would make him the Po, whereas I would be the Dora, the Riparia or the Baltea...: The Po is a major river in the north of Italy, of which the Dora, Riparia, and Baltea are tributaries.

  39 the Valley of the Temples: Probably the finest group of Ancient Greek ruins in Sicily (and there are many), the Valley of the Temples is just outside of Agrigento, the city on which the fictional Montelusa is based.

  39 The number you have reached does not exist: The recorded response for nonworking numbers in Italy indeed says Il numero selezionato da lei nesistente.

  61 cornuto: Italian for cuckold, cornuto is a common insult throughout the country, but a special favorite among southerners, Sicilians in particular.

  78 the private television station where Nicolto worked:

  In Italy there are three state-owned television stations, Rai Uno, Rai Due, Rai Tre and their local subsidiaries, and countless private stations.

  82 a cacocciola: Sicilian expression used to denote the interrogative gesture, common throughout Italy, where one holds the hand palm-up, fingertips and thumb gathered together and pointing upward, and shakes it lightly. Cacocciola is Sicilian for artichoke (carciofo in Italian).

  85 Totd Peppino: Tots the stage and screen name of Antonio de Curtis (18981967), perhaps the most celebrated comic actor of the twentieth century in Italy. Also a poet and writer of Neapolitan songs, he was born a marquis and later granted a whole series of noble titles, including Count Palatine, Exarch of Ravenna, Duke of Macedonia and Illyria, and Prince of Constantinople. He was known affectionately as the Principe della Risata, or the Prince of laughter. Peppino de Filippo

  (19031980) was a Naples-born comic actor of the screen and stage and brother of comic playwright and actor Eduardo de Filippo. He teamed up with Tot the early 1950s on a series of madcap comic films that became wildly popular.

  91 spaghetti allaglio e olio: That is, with garlic and oil, and usually a bit of hot pepper and parsley. Because its considered a light dish, spaghetti allaglio e olio is often served to people who arent feeling well.

  91 aiole: Aiola is the Sicilian name for a kind of sea-bream (Pagellus mormyrus or Lithognathus mormyrus) common to Sicilian waters. In Italian its called mormora.

  99 Madonna biniditta!: Blessed Virgin! (Sicilian dialect).

  103 hes liable to have us searching all the way to the Aspromonte: The Aspromonte (literally, harsh mountain) is in Calabria, the last stretch of the so-called Calabrian Alps, which are a continuation of the Apennine chain that runs down the Italian peninsula. Augellos quip is predicated on the commissioners confusion of parts of Sicily with Calabria (see note to page).

  114 that class of shopkeepers who think a thousand lires the same as a euro: To the great dismay of many consumers, when the Italian currency was changed from the lira to the euro in 2002, many shops, restaurants, and other small businesses began charging a whole euro for what had previously cost one thousand lire, which in fact was equivalent to barely more than half a euro. Thus a hotel room that had previously cost 100,000 lire (about $50) now cost 100 euros (about $100, at the time of the conversion), and a plate of pasta that had gone for 12,000 (about $6) suddenly went for 12 euros. By merely moving the decimal point over three places on their prices, many businesses ended up charging their customers twice as much as before.

  120 Operation Clean Hands: Clean Hands is English for Mani Pulite, the name given by journalists to a nationwide judicial and police investigation in the early 1990s that exposed the endemic corruption of

  the Italian political system as well as the vast web of collusion between certain politicians, business leaders, intelligence organizations, organized crime, and extremist right-wing groups. After a rash of indictments of political and business leaders, and even a few suicides, Mani Pulite ultimately led to the demise and dissolution of the Christian Democratic Party, which had governed Italy since the end of the Second World War. The Italian Socialist and Social Democratic parties were also dissolved before being reconstituted in other political formations. Unfortunately many of the legal reforms institued during Mani Pulite have since been reversed under the rule of Silvio Berlusconis Forza Italia Party.

  123 Then, with the new law, he brought it back in, paid his percentage, and put his affairs in order: Former prime minister Silvio Berlusconis ruling party passed a law that allowed money that had been illegally taken out of the country to be repatriated upon payment of a relatively light fine. The law amounted to an amnesty for the sort of corrupt activities that Mani Pulite had attempted to eradicate.

  129 It was as if the inspector had spoken to crows: The Sicilian expression parlare con le ciaor ciavule), i.e., to speak to crows, means to be privy to information unknown to most people. Ciaor ciavula) can also refer to a very talkative woman.

  138 since Peruzzo was a victim of the communist judiciary:

  In attempting to discredit the many judicial inquiries into his and others corrupt business dealings and the conflicts of interest between their private holdings and their public offices, (former) Prime Minister Berlusconi has repeatedly and speciously claimed that the magistrates behind these investigations are motivated not by any desire to enforce the law but by communist ideology and sympathies, which would make them the natural enemies of the free-enterprise system of which Il Cavaliere presents himself as the champion. Thus any similar investigation into shady financial maneuvers such as Peruzzos must have the same motivations behind it.

  148 Except that here the odor was denser. [...] It was, moreover
, brownish-yellow in color, with streaks of fiery

  red.: As seen in many of the prior novels in this series, Montalbano has a synaesthetic sense of smell, whereby he perceives odors as colors.

  172 says hes the moon: Luna means moon in Italian.

  173 Pay them no mind, but look and move on, as the poet says: Mr. Luna is making the same mistake as many other Italians in attributing this lineNon ti curar di lor, ma guarda e passato Dante (the poet). In fact it is from the Emilio De Marchi translation of La Fontaines Fables (in the story of The Lion, the Monkey, and Two Donkeys). It must be said, however, that in translating in this fashion the line mais laissons les gens (which simply means but let us leave those people there), De Marchi (18511901) was purposely echoing Dantes line (Inferno 3, 1. 51), Ma non ragionam di lor, ma guarda e passa (Let us talk not of them, but look and move on).

  174 LOsservatore Romano: The official daily newspaper of the Vatican.

  175 Junior Woodchucks Guidebook: The Junior Woodchucks is a scout organization in the fictional town of Duckburg, the setting for the Donald Duck comic-book and cartoon stories. Donalds nephews Huey, Dewey, and Louie are all Junior Woodchucks, and Scrooge Mc- Duck provides the financial support for the organization. The Junior Woodchucks Guidebook is the all-important manual that tells them how to proceed in certain difficult situations, such as pulling people out of quicksand, crossing a river full of crocodiles, or using pepper to make dragons sneeze. Only Junior Woodchucks are allowed to use the Guidebook, though an exception is made for Scrooge.

  178 a kind of autostrada: The autostrada (like the German autobahn and the French autoroute) is a high-speed superhighway.

  178 ninety miles an hour: The Berlusconi government indeed raised the maximum speed on the autostrada to 150 km/hr, roughly 90 mph.

  181 Smoking makes you die of cancer: Cigarette packs in Europe have much more dire warnings than their counterparts in the United States, perhaps because Europeans still smoke more than Americans.

  186 cavatuna [...] caponata: Cavatuna areakindof handmade pasta crushed with a fork or ones thumb against a grater, so they remain scored on the outside. The crushing makes them concave or hollowonone side, hence thename(cavato means hollow or carved out). Caponata is a kind of ratatouille of eggplant, tomato, green pepper, garlic, onion, celery, black olives, vinegar, olive oil, and anchovies. It is sometimes served as asidedish, sometimes asamaincourse, andhere serves as the base for coniglio allagrodolce.