As soon as I turned the corner, I noticed a discordant note: something strange was happening in front of the building I was living in. A tiny crowd of curious people fluttered, there were also two police cars with flashing lights, but no ambulance. I hurried, worried.
There was no agitation among the present, it seemed to reign over curiosity more than fear, more than anxiety about anguish. I looked in the faces of some of my knowledge to ask for explanations. There was Mario, the grocery store greengrocer in front of the shop, and in the end I could take his attention. He was a big guy, always good and joking, I’ve been in his shop for years and had a formal, but friendly relationship with him, while I had never tied up with my neighbors, Guido was holding contact with them.
The greengrocer lighted up recognizing me.
«Mrs Landi, I’m so glad you’re here, so glad».
It seemed as though he was crying; This raises my concern.
«What happened? Was there a disaster? Is my husband doing fine?».
I could not answer, he just shook the head.
«I do not know, nobody knows. We have no idea what happened there. Come with me, I have you talk to the police, maybe they’ll be able to tell you more».
He grabbed me by an arm and I felt dragged away from that worried man who was shaking the crowd with his considerable weight, repeating the same phrase continuously, aloud.
«Let us pass, the lady lives here».
He repeated it to the policeman who blocked us from the front door of my house. I found myself frightened and anxious as never before. I looked around: there was nothing to let anything to do with anything unpleasant. The illuminated, deserted door, the lit lanterns, the well-groomed hedge, the open gate, no broken glass, no traces of any kind. Then I looked up to the facade: everything seemed normal.
Too many, maybe.
I realized with amazement that all the shutters were open and the lights in the apartments were down. It was very strange, at that time of the year the darkness was already at six o’clock in the afternoon, there should have been lights lit everywhere and for hours. I thought instinctively that the current was missing, but I immediately broke the idea, the entrance was illuminated and, through the windows, you could see the soft yellow light of the stairs. Without being able to find a rational explanation, I felt that my apprehension was growing.
Instinctively, I pulled out the door key and stepped forward to the entrance.
One hand grabbed my wrist, making me jump.
«Wait».
He was a bourgeois man, but I had no difficulty identifying him as a policeman. He had to have my age and was robust and athletic. His face was anonymous, not expressive. I felt uncomfortable under his gaze. Behind him, another burial policeman appeared, younger, and an old uniformed officer.
Mr. Mario immediately thought.
«She’s Mrs. Claudia Landi, she lives here».
The policeman came up.
«I am Sergeant Andrei and this is my colleague Spini».
The younger agent greeted me with a nod. He was tall and blond, a slim, dry physical and a disarming smile that women love. He did not seem very smart, but generally those with a look like him did not feel too much the lack of intelligence. The old man in uniform had not been included in the presentations.
«Do you live here, confirm me?».
«Yes sure».
The man glanced at his notebook. I tried to peek, but seemed to be covered with hieroglyphs.
«Mrs. Claudia Landi, apartment 4B. On the fourth floor, right».
I absented with a head movement.
«She does not live alone. Can you tell me if you planned to find someone at home on her return?».
I kept my mouth open: the coldness of that question had paralyzed me.
Mr. Mario came to my aid.
«But I told him! Mr. Landi almost never leaves. She works at home and at this time she should be upstairs, as always».
I felt a shiver running along my back.
«My husband. Something happened to my husband! Please tell me, please!».
The agent seemed embarrassed.
«We do not know. Not yet, at least. It does not respond to the intercom or telephone call. And the door is closed».
I was astonished.
«You did not even go to see!».
The agent shrugged. The colleague came in his aid. «We could not. There was no complaint, the door was closed, and we could not break it without a mandate. There is nothing to indicate that a crime is being committed».
I wondered if they had not become all crazy.
«You could make it open by a neighbor! Ask some of them to go see!».
Andrei answered cautiously.
«You do not understand, ma’am. None of the inhabitants of the palace answered to the intercom and when we tried to call we could not talk to anyone».
«Nobody? But at this time the house should be full of people!»
«Sixty-five people, more or less. Six floors, eighteen apartments. So at least the other inhabitants of the street told us».
«And did not you come in? It’s crazy!»
I was furious.
«It’s not so easy. As I told you, there is no evidence that something illegal is happening. If someone wants to stay in the house in the dark and refuses to answer the phone, well, it’s certainly not a crime. They could have been out for some reason, maybe a trip, a condominium meeting…».
«At eight in the evening? Are you crazy?».
I realized that the agent hid his irritation with difficulty, but the idea of hurting his feelings even seemed attractive to me.
«We are trying to get in touch with relatives to have permission to enter. But it’s not easy».
«I’m here and I want to get in. This is my home and I have the keys. If you want to follow me, the better. Maybe you will not be able to enter the other apartments, but in my house I will gladly invite you».
The agents seemed to wait for nothing else. Spini nodded and immediately four policemen were at their side.
Andrei came to me, almost murmuring, not to be heard by the curious.
«So let’s go right away. But, I recommend, let us go first and, for God’s sake, do nothing impulsive. If I give you orders I want you to run execute instantly, without thinking. Just remember that it is for your good, I don’t want you to run unnecessary risks».
Spini was giving the latest guidelines to his men.
«I recommend, do not let anyone go and for no reason, until we come back».
In spite of everything, I felt encouraged to have such a stock.
«Give me the keys, I think I’ll open, she’ll stay behind, with Agent Spini. Let’s get in us first».
He turned the key and the door opened with a click. Everything inside was quiet and peaceful. The police first came in and I was last. The door closed with a tear behind us, making me jump.
«Who deals with lighting in the stairs and in the entrance when it is dark?».
I tried to remember.
«It’s automatic. There’s a timer in the cellar, I think».
Andrey nodded.
«I imagined it».
We walked through the hallway, intact and empty mailboxes, a couple of fat plants, a second locked glass door.
A small place: side by side the elevator door and stairs. Sink on the right, the cellar door. It was all lindy, freshly washed, no grain of dust was visible.
«We take the elevator?».
Andrei seemed to think a moment before answering the colleague.
«I see no reason not to do it, I do not think it’s dangerous».
He pressed the button and the doors opened immediately: the elevator was already on the floor. The cabin was empty, a mirror reflecting our images. Almost I did not recognize myself: I had my eyes twisted, the expression hallucinated. I tried to recompense.
Spini and the oldest policeman came into the elevator behind me; Andrei, before reaching us, motioned for the othe
r policemen to go on foot.
«It was not necessary, we could do two trips», I said.
«This is not the problem», Andrei replied patiently. «Better to be certain that no unpleasant surprise is waiting for us, do not you think?».
I was forced to nod and I was forced to remain silent. I tried not to think, to make no assumptions. Guido… What could have happened to him? I tried to stay polished. The elevator was old and slow, climbing screaming in a worrying way. I was not sure I’d ever heard those rumors before, but I had to admit that they were probably acute by the anxiety of the moment.
When we got to the fourth floor, the other cops were already waiting for us. One of them warned Andrei that the street was free.
We went out. The corridor was lit, but silence reigned. There were only three doors, all closed.
One of the cops reported to Andrei.
«Nothing suspect in the underlying plans. All the doors are closed, no trace of breakin».
I pointed to the nearest one. Andrei nodded and pulled out the bunch of keys.
«Which of these?».
I pointed it and Andrei passed the key to another agent. Then he took my arm and led me to a corner. The agents placed at the sides of the door, being careful to keep out of the reach of a firearm. The agent who used the key made him so grace that he did not make any noise, then opened the door and threw himself sideways.
Inside there was only darkness and silence.
Andrei motioned to continue.
At gunpoint, the cops entered the apartment. It seemed to me to wait for an eternity, but maybe it was only a minute, then a policeman made a note that we could come in.
A policeman lit the lights in the apartment: I felt paralyzed, unable to move one step.
Andrei squeezed my arm and drove me inside. Down in the street they shake their hands, a curious expression of jubilation for seeing a light come on. The house was ordered, there were no traces of collusion or sudden abandonment. The stoves had not been used, a sign that something had happened before Guido started preparing for dinner. My husband’s computer was off: he had stopped working before his disappearance. I approached thoughtfully.
«Can I turn it on?».
Andrei was interested.
«For what purpose?».
«He certainly saved the file he was working on. It’s an automatic thing, next to every save the computer points to what time it was done».
«Great idea, do it too. I do not think there are any fingers here».
His colleagues, meanwhile, were knocking on the other apartments. The noise, ingrained by the unnatural silence surrounding the palace, made me shudder, and the fact that no one responded animated in me the gloomiest predictions. We waited a couple of minutes for the program to load, then I sat down and started exploring.
«Strange, very strange!».
Andrei immediately came to me.
«What?».
«Look, the last rescue is four o’clock in the afternoon».
Andrei is exulted.
«Then it was at that time that happened!».
«Not at all. I phoned him at five to know what I had to buy at the supermarket. He was in full job and in a good mood».
«I do not understand».
I tried to explain it better.
«See, he was working. He was translating a document. Shutting down without saving would mean losing hours of work. It does not make sense».
Andrei was developing his own theory.
«Something suddenly made him run out and turned off the computer without thinking about it».
«Let’s figure it out, let it always light up, even as he ate, if someone had convinced him to go out, even if he had forced him, we would have found the computer turned on». Andrei began to walk along the room. «So someone else might have turned off the computer. To what purpose?»
Thousands of hypotheses went feverishly to my mind.
«Wait, wait! There is another possibility! What a stupid thing to do, because I did not think about it before!». I hit the keys in a dark look. Andrei put me behind «This program copies a file automatically, every five minutes. He understands, if by chance the current was missing, not everything would be lost. Let’s see what time the last one was made».
I was on the keyboard for another minute and then shouted at me.
«At 18:30. The computer was on, until that hour!»,
Andrei looked at me incredulously,
«It is not possible! By that time the darkness had already fallen, the lights should have been lit».
«Someone has seen them off».
«How many? Did you go around the apartments, opening them one by one and turning off the lights in every room? It would take an hour for it! Instead, already at seven, the first reports came to the central police».
I could not understand: the whole story had no logic.
«I have no idea what happened. The only thing certain is that this computer was shut off between 18:30 and 18:35. There can be no doubt about this».
Andrei nodded, and he realized that he was not gentle, he took a more resigned tone.
«Yes, of course. Excuse me; In fact, I have to thank her for the idea she had. It was a great help».
He was embarrassed. With a sudden inspiration, I grabbed his arm.
«You already know, of my husband. They told him, did not he?».
Andrei looked amazed at me,
«What did you say?».
«My husband is paralyzed, lives on a wheelchair. He never leaves home. He do not feel safe out. It is almost impossible that he may have come out of his own spontaneous will».
Andrei looked dry.
«Nobody told me anything. I’m sorry».
His embarrassment caught me unprepared: I did not want him to feel pity for us. Neither for me nor for Guido. We were so happy, we did not need anyone to understand.
«No matter, I told you just because I thought he could serve».
Then entered an agent to call Andrei.
«Soon, come see».
We followed him in the corridor to the door in front of ours. Inside he felt mumble.
Andrei turned to me.
«Who lives here?».
«Mrs. Righi. She’s a bit old-fashioned old woman with a tough character. She had been well connected with my husband, though. He gladly helped her».
«Is there a cat in the house?».
«There are two, to tell the truth. They are her passion. I am surprised that she left them alone».
Andrei was thoughtful.
«So you confirm that the thing is strange. That there are the conditions to fear that the lady may have felt badly at home. This could allow us to enter…».
He nodded to his men and walked away from me. The cops opened the door shoulder-mounted. It was easy, the wood was old and there were no security locks. Even here the lights were off.
Cats, incredibly fat, ran for the newcomers to celebrate. We all went to the apartment, except for a policeman who watched in the corridor. Even here there were no traces of life: television was off and total silence. They rushed in quickly, finding only a bit of disorder, but nothing to think of violent actions. They were all disappointed, but I had seen a little detail stuck in the kitchen.
«Strange, very strange».
«Did you notice something?».
«Maybe. She fed cats».
«So?».
«Mrs. Righi is terribly habitual. Her cats always eat at the same time at seven o’clock in the evening, while cooking for herself. She does not fed them before to make sure they’re not hungry again before bed, because she put them on diet».
«This time she must have done it. I doubt she might still be at home at seven o’clock».
«Yes, of course, but look here! She did not even threw the can, left it on the table. It’s not from her: she’s certainly not an orderly person, but she keeps a lot of hygiene».
Andrei was thinking loudly.
«So she had to go
out, she was not dragged out. She knew she had to go out in hurry and maybe she would not be able to get back for the seven. Then she fed the cats. So quickly to forget the box on the table. But all this does not agree with what we found in her home: if your husband had come out spontaneously, he would save the file he was working on or at least leave the computer on».
I nodded, I myself thought the same things.
«That’s right, it makes no sense. The facts do not fit at all!»
Andrei made a decision.
«We have to look at the other apartments».
I was glad that Andrei had abandoned the regulation to finally follow the logic, although this did not affect my concern. We came back to the landing.
«Who lives in the last apartment?».
«Merlini, they are a nice family. He is an engineer and his wife is homemaker. We are friends, even though we have little time to attend. They have three children».
Andrei nodded.
«Get down the door».
Without much precautions, the cops obeyed.
There was chaos in the apartment, it was clear that there were children in that house. It was difficult to determine whether the disorder was a habitual or emergency condition. There were toys scattered everywhere and magazines open on the couch. But the kitchen was in order and so did the rooms. The television was on, the volume low enough to not be heard from the landing. The dark screen, surely there had been problems with the antenna. «Another mystery! Here they came out without even turning off the TV, a sign they thought about coming back right away. But why did the Merlini bring their children with them, while Righi left the cats in the house? If there was a danger, why did the lady abandon them? It is obvious that she love they».
I found myself smiling, I never imagined I could do it in such a way.
«They did not, they were not used to it. They never came out of that house, it would have been impossible to drag them out, it would have taken a cage to do it and she did not. I remember that when she was compelled to take one by the vet if she had had it lent».
Andrey nodded, but I was not finished yet.
«But there could not be a real danger, or at least Mrs. Righi did not think he could get here. Otherwise she would not leave them, she would stay with them at any cost».
Lizzi Bizzi and the Red Witch Page 46