A Walk in the Dark by Gianrico Carofiglio Read Free Book Online Page B

worry about your fees. Find a way to get out of the case, and whatever you’re owed for the work you’ve already done, we’ll take care of it. You’re a good lawyer. More than that, you’re a smart fellow. Don’t do anything stupid when you don’t have to. This is just a petty squabble between a misguided fool and an unbalanced girl. It’s not worth it.”
    Without waiting for my reply, he said goodbye and hung up.

    The first time it happened, one summer morning, I was nine.
    My mother had gone to work. He had stayed at home with me and my sister, who was three years younger. He was at home because he’d been fired from his job. We were at home because the summer holidays had started, but we had nowhere to go. Except for the yard of the apartment block where we lived.
    I remember it as being very hot. But now I’m not so sure it was as hot as all that.
    We were in the yard, my sister and I and the other kids. It’s odd. I remember we were playing football and I’d just scored a goal.
    He appeared on the balcony and called me. He was in beige shorts and a white vest.
    He told me to come up, he needed something.
    I asked if I could finish playing and he told me to come up for five minutes and then I could go back down. I told the other kids I’d be right back and ran up the two flights of stairs that led to our flat. There were no lifts in those blocks.
    I reached the landing and found the door ajar. When I went in, I heard him call me from their bedroom at the end of the corridor. The door of that room was also ajar.
    Inside, the bed was unmade. The room stank of cigarettes. He was lying with his legs wide open, and he told me to come closer.
    Because he had something to tell me, he said.
    I was nine years old.

13
    After Delissanti’s phone call, I told Maria Teresa I didn’t want to be disturbed for the next ten minutes. I always felt a bit stupid telling my secretary I didn’t want to be disturbed, for any reason , but sometimes it was necessary. I put my feet up on the desk, crossed my hands behind my head, and closed my eyes.
    An old method, when I start to feel panicky and don’t know what to do.
    I opened my eyes again about ten minutes later, looked through my papers, found the sheet with the mobile number, and called Sister Claudia. The phone rang about ten times without any answer and in the end I pressed the red button to end the call.
    I wondered what to do next. When I call a mobile phone and there’s no answer, I always have the unpleasant sensation that they’ve done it on purpose. I mean, they’ve seen the number, realized it’s me, and are deliberately not answering. Because they don’t want to talk to me. A throwback to my childhood insecurities, I suppose.
    My mobile rang. It was Sister Claudia. Clearly, if she was calling me back a few seconds after my call, she hadn’t deliberately avoided answering.
    “Hello?”
    “I had a call from this number. Who is that?”
    “Avvocato Guerrieri.”
    A puzzled silence.
    I said I needed to talk to her. Without Martina being
present. It was quite urgent. Could she come to my office, maybe this afternoon?
    No, she couldn’t come this afternoon, she had to stay at the refuge. None of her assistants was there and she couldn’t leave the place unattended. Some of the girls were under house arrest and someone always had to be there, in case the police or carabinieri checked. How about tomorrow morning? Same thing tomorrow morning. But what was the problem? No problem. Or rather, there were a few problems, but I wanted to talk about them in person, not over the phone.
    I don’t know what made me think of it, but I told her I could come to the refuge myself, tomorrow morning, as I didn’t have to be in court.
    A long silence followed, and I realized I’d put my foot in it. The location of the refuge was a secret, Tancredi had said. With my spontaneous – and quite unprofessional – suggestion, I’d put Sister Claudia in a difficult position.