The Track of Sand by Andrea Camilleri Read Free Book Online Page B

like.”
    “Michele Prestia met Grazia Stornello at a wedding reception. From that moment on, he was always after her. They started going out together but managed to keep their relationship a secret from everyone. Until one day the girl ended up pregnant and was forced to tell her parents the whole story.At this point Michilino asked his employers for his vacation time and then disappeared.”
    “He didn’t want to get married?”
    “It was the furthest thing from his mind. But less than a week later, he’s back inVigàta from Palermo, where he had been hiding at a friend’s place, and he announces that he’s ready to make amends and marry the girl.”
    “Why did he change his mind?”
    “They made him change it.”
    “Who did?”
    “I’ll explain. Remember when I said who Grazia Stornello’s mother was?”
    “Yes, but I don’t—”
    “Marianna Todaro.”
    And he cast a knowing glance at the inspector. But Montalbano disappointed him.
    “And who’s she?”
    “Whattya mean, who’s she? She’s one of Balduccio Sinagra’s three nieces.”
    “Wait a second,” Montalbano interrupted him.“Are you telling me Balduccio is behind the clandestine horse races?”
    “Please, Chief, stop jumping ahead like a kangaroo. I haven’t said anything about the clandestine races yet. We were still at the wedding.”
    “All right, go on.”
    “So Marianna Todaro goes to see her uncle and tells him about her daughter and so on. At this point Don Balduccio takes exactly twenty-four hours to locate Michilino in Palermo and has him brought back, to his villa, in the middle of the night.”
    “Kidnapping.”
    “You can imagine how frightened Don Balduccio is of being charged with kidnapping!”
    “So he threatens the kid?”
    “In his own special way. For two days and two nights he kept him in a totally empty room with nothing to eat or drink. Every three hours somebody came in with a pistol, cocked the hammer, looked at Michilino, pointed the gun at him, then turned around and left without saying a word. On the third day, when Don Balduccio came to see him in person, apologizing for having made him wait—you know what Don Balduccio’s like, all smiles and fuss—Michilino got down on his knees, in tears, and asked him for the honor of marrying Grazia. And when the baby was born, they named him Balduccio.”
    “And how were relations between Balduccio Sinagra and Prestia after that?”
    “Well, one year after the wedding, Don Balduccio suggested that he leave his job at Cozzo and Rampello and come work for him. But Michilino refused. He told Don Balduccio he was afraid he was unworthy. So Don Balduccio let it drop.”
    “And after that?”
    “Well, after that—and I mean only about four years ago—Michilino developed a gambling habit. Until the day when Messrs. Cozzo and Rampello discovered they had a serious cash deficit. Out of respect for Don Balduccio, they didn’t report Prestia to the police, but forced him to resign. But Cozzo and Rampello wanted the stolen money back. They gave him three months.”
    “Did he ask Don Balduccio for it?”
    “Of course. But Don Balduccio told him to go fuck himself, saying he wasn’t some two-bit hood.”
    “And did Cozzo and Rampello report him?”
    “No, they didn’t. Because when the three months were up, Michilino came to Messrs. Cozzo and Rampello with cash in hand. He paid it all back, down to the last cent.”
    “Where’d he get it?”
    “From Ciccio Bellavia.”
    Now, there was a name he knew! And how! Ciccio Bellavia had been the rising star of the “ striddari ,” the new, young Mafia that wanted to stab the old generation of the Sinagras and Cuffaros in the back. But then he betrayed his own comrades and went to work for the Cuffaros, becoming their go-to guy.
    So the Mafia was behind the clandestine horse races. It could not have been otherwise.
    “So was it Prestia who turned to Bellavia?”
    “No, it was the other way around. Bellavia showed up