“Can you please answer a few questions?”
Natale gave a small nod. Ravenna looked at Valerio.
“Did he ever talk about what he was doing?” he asked.
“Yeah. Sometimes,” she said. “They gave him his own motorbike when he was fourteen. He made deliveries.”
“Did he say what he was delivering?”
She shrugged. “Last year, he got his driver’s license, and started driving properly—you know, driving people around. They had a big car for him to use.”
“What sort of people?”
“Important people—you know, from the government, and businessmen.” Natale picked at a sore on her jawline. “And he drove models to parties. He used to brag about that to me to make me jealous. He told me that one girl offered to suck him off, but I knew he was lying. That’s why I picked him. He wouldn’t cheat on me. He liked to show off, but none of those girls actually liked him. I saw him with them once, and they were making fun of him.”
“Where did these models come from?”
“Modeling agencies.”
“Do you know which ones?”
“Yeah. I asked Gaetano. Maybe I might want to be a model, too.” She gave them a fierce look as if challenging them to contradict her. “They make good money. Alta Visione Talenti and Sogni di Moda. There were others, but I remember those.”
Valerio made a note.
“You know Gaetano was arrested for cocaine possession,” he said.
“That stupid thing!” She was suddenly furious. “That wasn’t Gaetano! He wouldn’t do that. He didn’t need to.”
“Why didn’t he need to?”
“He was doing important work, wasn’t he?”
“What important work?”
“Aren’t you listening? The driving. They needed him to drive.”
“Why was this important?”
She looked flustered for a moment as she thought about this.
“It just was,” she insisted quietly.
“These parties he drove for—did he ever go in?”
“They didn’t let him in, did they?”
“Do you know where the parties were?”
“Uh…Sorrento.”
“Do you have addresses?”
“No.”
“Did he ever tell you about what the parties were like?”
She picked at her skin while she thought. Scratching off a scab, her fingertips came back red. She didn’t seem to notice.
