And Then You Die by Michael Dibdin Read Free Book Online Page B

Women notice men’s bodies a lot, they just don’t notice them in the same way that men notice women’s bodies. Pier Giorgio has very fine, tapering fingers. This man’s were quite different. You could imagine them building a wall or castrating a horse. You couldn’t imagine them caressing your skin.’
    Zen looked away. For the first time he could remember, he was blushing. The major harrumphed.
    ‘So the victim was present when you left shortly before one o’clock?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘And when you returned in the afternoon?’
    ‘He was still there.’
    ‘What time was that?’
    Gemma shrugged.
    ‘I went to the Bar Centrale and had a panino and some salad. About two, probably.’
    She turned to Zen.
    ‘What time did you get there?’
    ‘I left home at one,’ Zen replied. ‘It takes about fifteen minutes to walk. I prefer the beach in the lunch hour. It’s less crowded.’
    ‘He was there when I arrived,’ Gemma explained to the cara biniere . ‘He’d taken the next place up and looked like he was asleep.’
    ‘I was. I had lunch at home and finished off a bottle of Vermentino. As soon as I sat down on the beach, the heat just knocked me out.’
    The major stood up, as if to impose his authority on this mutual dialogue.
    ‘Please respect the sequence of questioning,’ he said testily.
    ‘I didn’t realize there was one,’ Gemma retorted.
    Don’t push him too far, thought Zen, but fortunately at that point the phone rang.
    ‘Yes?’ barked the carabinieri major. ‘Very well. Tell them to
    He hung up and turned to Gemma.
    ‘We have established that, according to your testimony, Signora Santini, the victim arrived shortly before one o’clock and was still there at two. Is that correct?’
    ‘Yes.’
    ‘Did you notice a towel draped over his back?’
    Gemma reflected for a moment.
    ‘No, I don’t think so. Wait a minute. There was one when I saw him in the afternoon. I’m not sure about the morning.’
    ‘When did you leave the beach?’
    ‘About four, earlier than usual. There was a rather unpleasant incident.’
    Everything the major had picked up from his seemingly avid perusal of the chapter on basic interrogation techniques in the training manual now deserted him. He leaned forward, eyes bulging, all agog.
    ‘What was that?’
    Having achieved her effect, Gemma proceeded to dismiss it.
    ‘Oh, nothing really. Pier Giorgio woke up at about three-thirty or so. I was going to get a coffee from Franco’s bar, and I asked him if he’d like one too. On my way back, someone ran into me and spilt the coffee all over my bathing costume. I didn’t have a spare with me, so there was nothing for it but to go home.’
    ‘The man was running? Why?’
    ‘I don’t know. I mean, he wasn’t running at first. He was just standing there on the boardwalk down the centre of Franco’s strip. I thought he was staring at Pier Giorgio, to be honest.’
    A gleam came into the major’s eye.
    ‘Are you sure it was Signor Butani he was staring at? Might it not have been Signor Rutelli, who was sitting in the next chair?’
    Gemma made a moue of indifference.
    ‘It could have been. I didn’t have time to think about it. The next thing I knew, he’d whirled around and barged into me, spilling scalding coffee all over my belly and thighs.’
    The major reflected a moment.
    ‘Why did he run?’
    ‘I haven’t the slightest idea.’
    ‘Was it because he heard you coming?’
    ‘I don’t think so. He was facing the other way, and I was barefoot so he couldn’t have heard me. Besides, why should he be frightened of me?’
    The major nodded and smiled the ironic, knowing smile of the master detective who alone has grasped the hidden clue concealed in the witness’s seemingly ingenuous answer.
    ‘Exactly. Why indeed should he be frightened of you?’
    He turned to Zen.
    ‘Did you notice this man, signore?’
    ‘I saw him run off after he collided with Gemma, that’s all.’
    ‘Can either of you describe