Drawing Conclusions by Donna Leon Read Free Book Online Page A

the apartment, and I couldn’t go upstairs at that hour to ask the woman who lives there. But if he’s still a veterinarian, he should be listed in one of those two cities.’
    ‘Of course we should contact him,’ Patta said with quickly manufactured irritation, quite as if Brunetti had opposed the idea. ‘I hardly thought I’d have to explain something that simple to you, Brunetti.’ Then, to prevent Brunetti from getting to his feet, he continued, ‘I want this settled quickly. We can’t have people in this city thinking they aren’t safe in their homes.’
    ‘Indeed, Vice-Questore,’ Brunetti said instantly, curious to know who might have suggested to Patta that Signora Altavilla’s death might lead to thoughts of safety. ‘I’ll have a look, and I’ll call Signora Giusti …’
    ‘Who?’ Patta asked suspiciously.
    ‘The woman upstairs, sir. She seems to have known the dead woman quite well.’
    ‘Then she ought to know how to get hold of the son,’ Patta said.
    ‘I hope so, Dottore,’ Brunetti said and started to get to his feet.
    ‘What do you intend to do about the press?’ Patta asked him, voice cautious.
    ‘Have they been in touch with you, sir?’ Brunetti asked, settling back into his chair.
    ‘Yes,’ Patta answered and gave Brunetti a long stare, as if he suspected that either he or Vianello – or quite possibly Rizzardi – had spent the rest of the early morning hours on the phone to reporters.
    ‘What have they asked?’
    ‘They know the woman’s name, and they’ve asked about the circumstances of her death, but nothing more than they usually ask.’
    ‘What have you told them, sir?’
    ‘That the circumstances of her death are already under examination and we expect a report from the medico legale some time today or tomorrow.’
    Brunetti nodded in approval. ‘Then I’ll see about getting in touch with the son, sir. The woman upstairs will surely know how to find him.’ Then, before Patta could ask, Brunetti said, ‘She was in no condition to answer questions last night, sir.’ When Patta did not answer, Brunetti said, ‘I’ll go and speak to her.’
    ‘About what?’
    ‘About her life, about the son, about anything she can think of that might provide us with reason for concern.’ He mentioned nothing about Palermo, nor did he say Vianello was going to speak to the neighbours below, fearing that Patta would jump to the conclusion that Signora Giusti was involved in her neighbour’s death.
    ‘“Concern”, Brunetti? I think it might be wiser to get the results of the autopsy before you begin to use words like “concern”, don’t you?’ Brunetti found himself almost comforted by the return of the Patta he knew, the master of evasion who so ably managed to deflect all attention that was not entirely positive or laudatory. ‘If the woman died a natural death, then it doesn’t concern us, and so I think we ought not to use that word.’
    Instantly, as if he feared the press would somehow get hold of this remark and pounce upon its callousness, Patta amended it for those silent listeners, ‘Professionally, I mean, of course. At the human level, her death is, as is anyone’s, terrible.’ Then, as if prodded by his son’s voice, he added, ‘And doubly so, given the circumstances.’
    ‘Indeed,’ Brunetti affirmed, resisting the impulse to bowhis head respectfully at the sibylline opacity of his superior’s words, and allowing a moment to pass in silence. ‘I believe there’s nothing we can say to the press at the moment, sir, certainly not until Rizzardi has told us what he found.’
    Patta fell upon Brunetti’s uncertainty hungrily. ‘Then you think it was a natural death?’
    ‘I don’t know, sir,’ Brunetti answered, keeping to himself the mark near the woman’s collarbone. If the physical evidence did point to a crime, it would fall to Patta to reveal this news, thus reaffirming his role as chief protector of the safety of the city.
    ‘When we