‘This excellency happily obliges.’
When they’d finished, the waitress came to clear the table.
‘Was everything to your liking?’ she asked teasingly.
‘It was, thank you,’ Calandra replied gallantly.
She came back with the fried fish. Calandra squeezed some lemon over it.
‘Care for some?’
‘Thank you, but I’ve got enough with the trofie.’
When the coffee and limoncello arrived, Canessa accepted a half Toscano. ‘I’ve only smoked them with Repetto in the past, but I’ll make an exception.’
‘I’d consider it an honour.’
Canessa smiled. Once the puffs of smoke had cleared, Canessa looked at Calandra.
‘I wasn’t expecting a visit from you. I thought you might be annoyed at me for having involved Savelli.’
Calandra waved his hand, as if to shoo away a bug. ‘No, no, it was fine this way. Petri’s recording clearly showed that the judiciary branch is filled with people like us, capable of betrayal and terrible deeds. Not always above the law. That was enough for my contacts. I even received a bonus, though you did all the hard work.’
‘It had to be done.’
‘You know, your way of thinking has always intrigued me. So out of the box, so ethical without being moralistic. We’re headed for troubling times, and we need men like you who go beyond surface impressions and take a fresh look at reality.’
Canessa smiled. ‘Are you offering me a job?’
‘Maybe not full employment. It doesn’t work like that any more. But a contract, perhaps.’
Canessa poured him some more limoncello, then topped up his own. He hadn’t been expecting the offer. ‘I’m reaching a certain age.’
‘Ah, but this is a job you can do at any age. And you seem in good shape, to judge from the past few months.’
Canessa couldn’t pretend he wasn’t intrigued. He wasn’t doing badly with the restaurant, and the money was good. Yet despite its tragic nature and the death of innocent people – his brother, Alfridi and Panattoni’s girlfriend – the adventure had reawakened in him a taste for the only job he was really cut out to do.
‘I’ll think about it. I’m sure you’re not expecting a reply in the middle of August.’
‘Of course not.’
They sat in silence. Before long, a gentle breeze picked up and Calandra asked for the bill.
‘Your excellency, please don’t insult me – it’s on the house.’
‘Given your generosity, I wonder if you’d answer two questions for this old keeper of secrets.’
‘I will if I can.’
‘The first: I’m pretty sure you gave Savelli a little nudge,’ Calandra narrowed his eyes like a cat’s. ‘I don’t believe that he was very anxious to be involved, despite the evidence. What did you do?’
Canessa stood up. ‘Well done.’ He headed into the restaurant. After a few minutes, he came back with a photo for Calandra. It showed a tall man with thinning hair, dressed in a Carabinieri uniform.
Calandra looked at the photo in surprise. ‘I know this man! What’s his name again…’
‘He was your colleague.’
‘Yes, of course! He went by Colonel Baccini. He belonged to a different branch of the Secret Service, something a little more borderline, if you catch my drift. A leftover from the infamous classified cases.’ Calandra screwed up his face, as if something had come back to him. ‘Now I remember: he jumped off the roof of a loft that he’d bought with our money, along with many other things. They said his family had left him: his wife had figured everything out and was suing him for a six-figure divorce deal. Some of those close to him were extremely embarrassed by the whole ordeal. But what does he have to do with all this?’
‘I gave Savelli a document containing the story. You’ll have to hear it in person – if you’re not in a rush.’
‘Fresh air, good food, great company.’ He bowed again. ‘I’m all ears.’
When Canessa finished talking, Calandra was even more impressed. ‘My dear Canessa, there were rumours back then about via Gaeta, but I had no idea about any of this. The story does confirm that you are an intimidating man. Savelli got your message loud and clear. If he hadn’t brought the story to its conclusion the “good” way, someone would’ve got hurt.’
Canessa untied his apron and stood up. ‘It was something that had to be done.’
‘I agree.’
They shook hands.
‘Please consider my offer.’
‘I will. But you said you had two questions.’
‘True. The second is about your beautiful waitress. What is Italy’s most famous journalist doing waiting tables instead of spending her time in posh clubs, enjoying her success?’
Canessa looked around for Carla and detected movement behind the mosquito screen. He smiled: once a journalist, always a journalist. She’d listened in on everything. She was a little like him, after all. He moved closer to Calandra and whispered.
‘She’s making amends.’
‘For what?’
‘A terrible sin. I offered her atonement if she worked here for the season. And to be honest, I had something to confess myself. Less terrible, but there we are. We’re looking for some balance. It’s a trial period for both of us.’
‘I’ve never had you down as a merciful man. At least, not after what you just told me.’
‘Your excellency, I’ve committed many sins, and just like her, I’ve had my issues with trust. We are all in need of forgiveness.’
Calandra burst out laughing and put the panama hat back on his head.
‘Amen.’
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I have many people to thank, starting with those who were willing to listen to my doubts and correct my mistakes: Deputy Chief Magistrate Samuele De Lucia for his friendship; Sandro Raimondi, the Brescia assistant prosecutor, who introduced me to the justice machine; Pietro Alibani, who enlightened me about firearms; Alfio Caruso for his knowledge of organised crime. Any mistakes are mine alone. Thank you to my friends over at Rizzoli: Massimo, Sabrina, Michele and Stefano, who took care of the editing, and were excited to work with me and Annibale Canessa; I hope we haven’t let them down. Thanks to Rosaria, as always, for her support. I would never have reached the end, however, had it not been for Emanuela, Cecilia, Rachele, and Giovanni, who filled the gaps with their presence. Thank you to all of you for coming this far. As Annibale would say, this was something that had to be done, and I did it.
p.s.: The novel is dedicated to Gérard de Villiers, an extraordinary, prolific and knowledgeable French writer and the first to bewitch me with his noir books when I was a teenager. I followed at least a few of his rules in my book.
COPYRIGHT
Pushkin Press
71–75 Shelton Street
London wc2h 9jq
Original text © 2017 Roberto Perrone
English translation © 2020 Hamish Goslow
The Second Life of Inspector Canessa was first published as
La Seconda Vita di Annibale Canessa by Rizzoli in Milan, 2017
First published by Pushkin Press in 2020
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
ISBN 13: 978–1–78227–621–0
eISBN 13: 978–1–78227–622–7
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from Pushkin Press
Designed and typeset by Tetragon, London
Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, cr0 4yy
www.pushkinpress.com
Second Life of Inspector Canessa
The Second Life of Inspector Canessa Page 37