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

receiver.
    Hello?
    He listened for a moment.
    No, Mr. Mistretta is not at home ...No, please dont
insist.
    He hung up and saw the inspector. He removed the headset
and stood up.
    Oh, Chief! The phones been ringing nonstop for the
last three hours! My head is numb! I dont know how it happened,
but everybody, all over Italy, knows about this disappearance,
and theyre all calling to interview the poor father!
    Wheres Inspector Minutolo?
    Hes back in Montelusa, packing an overnight bag. Hes
gonna sleep here tonight. He just left.
    What about Mistretta?
    He just went upstairs to be with his wife. He woke up
about an hour ago.
    He was able to sleep?
    Not for long, but he was given something. At lunchtime
his brother the doctor showed up with a nurse whos going to
spend the night with the sick wife. Then the doctor gave his
brother a shot of sedative. You know,Chief, there was some kind
of argument between the two brothers.
    He didnt want the shot?
    Well, that too, but first Mr. Mistretta got upset when he
saw the nurse. He told his brother he didnt have the money to
pay her, to which his brother replied that he would pay for it
himself. Then Mistretta started crying, saying he was reduced
to living on other peoples charity ...Poor man, I really do
feel sorry for him.
    Listen Fazio, sorry or not, tonight youre going to clock
out, go home and get some rest. Okay?
    Okay, okay. Heres Mr. Mistretta.
    The sleep hadnt done him any good. He was swaying as
he walked, weak-kneed and hands trembling. Seeing Montalbano,
he became alarmed.
    Oh my God! Whats happened?
    Nothing, I assure you. Please dont get excited. But since
Im here, Id like to ask you a question. Do you feel up to answering?
    Ill try.
    Thank you. Do you remember that this morning you told
me Susanna could only have had thirty euros, at the most, on
her? Was that the amount your daughter usually went around
with?
    Yes, I can confirm that. Thats more or less how much
she usually had on her.
Did you know that she went to the bank yesterday afternoon?
    Mistretta looked stunned.
    In the afternoon? No, I didnt know. Who told you that?
    Francesco, Susannas boyfriend.
    Mr. Mistretta looked sincerely bewildered. He sat down in
the first chair that came within reach and ran a hand over his
brow. He was trying very hard to understand.
    Unless . . . he muttered.
    Unless what?
    Well, yesterday morning I told Susanna to go to the bank
to see if some back payments had been credited to my pension.
The account is in both of our names, mine and hers. If
the money was there, she was supposed to withdraw three
thousand euros and pay off some debts that, frankly, I didnt
want to think about anymore. They weighed on my mind.
What kind of debts, if you dont mind my asking?
    I dunno, the pharmacy, some shopkeepers... Not that
they ever put any pressure on us, but it was I who ...But,
when Susanna came home around noon, I didnt ask her
whether shed been to the bank, so maybe . . .
    . . . Maybe shed forgotten to do it and didnt remember
until the afternoon, the inspector finished his sentence for
him.
    Im sure thats what happened, said Mistretta.
    But that means that Susanna had three thousand or more
euros on her person. Which isnt a whole lot, of course, but to
an imbecile . . .
    But she would have paid the bills with it!
No, she didnt.
How can you be so sure?
Because when she came out of the bank she . . . stopped
    to talk with Francesco.
Oh.
Then he clapped his hands together. But...we can call
    and check . . .
    Mistretta got up wearily, went over to the phone, dialed a
number, then spoke in a voice so soft that all they could hear
were the words:
    Hello? Bevilacqua Pharmacy?
He hung up almost at once.
You were right, Inspector, she didnt stop at the phar
    macy to pay off our outstanding bill ...And if she didnt go
to the pharmacy, she probably didnt go anywhere else.
Then all at once, he cried