I mean, Icouldhave called or texted –
But what was I going to say?
Old phone, new owner. Who dis?
I supposed I could contact them and say I was doing it on Fausto’s behalf –
But how was I going to tease out of them who they were?
They would expect me to already know. If it became clear that I didn’t, they would ditch their phones and eliminate any chance I had of finding out.
Until it was absolutely necessary, I wanted to investigate every possible lead before resorting to a strategy that would render most of the information useless.
I sighed in frustration as I looked through the police readout –
When someone knocked.
“Come in,” I said.
The door opened, and in strode Sofia.
“They’re here,” she announced.
Dario, Adriano, and Giorgio quickly followed her.
I locked eyes with our foot soldier and said facetiously, “Ah, our inter-city diplomat.”
Giorgio looked nervous. “I thought I had clearance – ”
“You did,” Adriano said as he glared at me.Fuck you – quit messing with the kid!
“It’s fine, I’m joking,” I said. “I just wanted you here to corroborate anything if our friends in Milan question it.”
Giorgio glanced nervously at Dario.
“The Don is here in case things become testy,” I explained. “Don’t worry, you’re not in any trouble.”
“You actually did us a great favor,” Dario said as he sat down. Sofia, Adriano, and Giorgio all followed suit.
“Really?” Giorgio asked in relief.
“The last time someone from another family trespassed in our territory, Lars took care of it for me. I appreciateyouhandling it this time.”
He was talking about when Lars killed Umberto Fumagalli –
The same night that Dario had brought Alessandra to our estate.
“Just tell me exactly what happened,” I said to Giorgio.
He recounted the events from the previous evening. I asked him a few questions about the exact injuries this Maurizio fellow had sustained and made sure he was still alive when Giorgio left him.
“Alright, let’s begin,” I said, and pulled out my cell phone. I glanced over at Sofia to let her know that what I was about to say was important. “I’m contacting Gilberto Reano, theconsiglierefor Don Camerota of Milan.”
“Gilberto Reano,consigliereto Don Camerota of Milan,” Sofia repeated. “Got it.”
“What’s that?” Adriano asked as he gestured at Fausto’s flip phone on the coffee table.
“Ancient history,” I replied.
