The Patience of the Spider by Andrea Camilleri Read Free Book Online

full of holes, almost impassable. You need a four-by-
four to get through there. Theres hardly any light, and its
much longer than our usual route. I have no idea why she
would go that way. But its an ideal place for a kidnapping.
Maybe it was a chance encounter that went bad.
    The boy had a good head on his shoulders.
    How old are you, young man?
    Twenty-three. You can call me Francesco, if you want.
Youre old enough to be my father.
    With a pang to the heart, Montalbano realized that, at this
stage of his life, he would never be the father of a kid that age.
    Are you a student?
    Yes, in law. I graduate next year.
    What do you want to do in life?
He asked only to relieve the tension.
The same thing you do.
Montalbano thought he hadnt heard right.
You want to join the police force?
Yes.
Why?
Because I like it.
I wish you the best of luck. Listen, to get back to your
    rapist hypothesis...which, mind you, is only a hypothesis.
Which Im sure youd already thought of.
Of course. Did Susanna ever mention people making
    lewd propositions, obscene phone calls, things like that?
    Susannas very reserved. She certainly got a lot of compliments,
wherever she went. Shes a beautiful girl. Sometimes
she would repeat them to me, and we would laugh about it. If
there was any cause for worry, Im sure she would have mentioned
it to me.
    Her friend Tina is convinced Susanna ran away of her
    own volition.
Francesco gave him an astonished look, mouth open.
Why would she do that?
A sudden breakdown. The pain and tension caused by
    her mothers illness, the physical strain of caring for her, the
stress of studying for exams. Is Susanna a fragile girl?
    So thats what Tina thinks? She obviously doesnt know
Susanna! Susannas nerves are bound to give out, that much is
certain, but its equally certain the breakdown wont come until
after her mother dies! Until that moment, she will stay at her
bedside. Because once she gets something in her head, and shes
    convinced shes right, she becomes so determined that . . .
Shes anything but fragile! No, believe me, thats an absurd hypothesis.
    Speaking of which, what is Susannas mother sick with?
    To be perfectly honest, Inspector, I dont know whats
wrong with her. A couple of weeks ago, Susannas uncle,
Carlo, the doctor, had some sort of consultation with two
doctorsone whod come down from Rome, the other from
Milanand in the end they all threw their hands up. Susanna
explained to me that her mother is dying of an incurable disease:
the refusal to live. A kind of fatal depression. When I
asked the reason for this depressionsince I believe there always
has to be a reasonshe answered evasively.
    Montalbano steered the conversation back to the girl.
How did you meet Susanna?
Purely by chance, in a bar. She was with a girl I used to
    go out with.
When was this?
About six months ago.
And you hit it off straightaway?
Francesco gave a broad smile.
It was love at first sight.
Do you do it?
Do what?
Make love.
Yes.
Where?
At my place.
Do you live alone?
I live with my father. But hes away a lot, often travels
    abroad. Hes a wholesaler in lumber. Right now hes in
    Russia.
    What about your mother?
    Theyre divorced. My mothers remarried and lives in
Siracusa.
    Francesco opened and then closed his mouth, as if he
wanted to add something.
    Go on, Montalbano prodded him.
    But we dont . . .
    Say it.
    The kid hesitated. It was clear he felt embarrassed talking
about something so private.
    Youll see, the inspector continued, when you become
a policeman yourself, you too will have to ask indiscreet questions.
    I know. I merely wanted to say that we dont do it very
often.
    She doesnt want to?
    No, not exactly. Im always the one who asks her to come
to my place. But every time Ive felt as though, I dont know,
she seemed distant, or absent. It was like she went along with it
just to please me. I realized that shes very