To Cesco’s glad surprise, he returned to his holding cell to find that the duty policeman had procured him some painkillers. He threw them back with a scoop of water, then stretched out on the hard bench and somehow managed to doze off for a while before being woken again by the cell door clanging open. ‘On your feet,’ said Izzo, holding up a manila folder fat with paperwork. ‘You’re mine now.’
Cesco sat up gingerly. ‘Where are we going?’
‘Herculaneum.’
‘Herculaneum?’ He rubbed his face, still slow with sleep. ‘Isn’t there an evacuation on?’
‘We’ve still got until tonight. And Herculaneum’s where your wallet, phone and keys are. Assuming you want them back?’
‘Say no more.’ He pushed himself gingerly to his feet. ‘So what’s the deal? Am I free?’
‘We’ll talk in the car. Not here.’
They went out together, buckled their belts. Izzo checked his phone was on, then put it in the cupholder with its fascia towards him. ‘Can I borrow that a moment?’ asked Cesco. ‘I need to call Carmen.’
‘Help yourself.’
To his shame, he didn’t know Carmen’s number. His phone had become his memory. He logged into email instead. It touched his heart to see all the messages she’d left him overnight. He replied to her latest, assuring her he was fine and no longer under suspicion, that he was off to retrieve his belongings with Detective Izzo and would call her as soon as he got his phone back. He logged out and put the phone back in the cupholder, then made to ask a question. But Izzo held up a finger, concentrating on his driving until he found his way. Then he relaxed back into his seat and glanced across. ‘We’ve opened the safe,’ he told him. ‘Three guesses what we found.’
It was the grimness of his expression that convinced Cesco the time had come. ‘A camera?’ he suggested.
‘What else?’
‘There was a Blu-ray player hooked up to the TV. So I’d guess some DVDs.’
Izzo nodded several times. He bit his teeth so tight together, they made walnuts of his cheeks. ‘How did you know? Why didn’t you say?’
‘I didn’t know,’ sighed Cesco. ‘That was the point. I only ever suspected. And I wasn’t about to smear him if I was wrong. Not after what was done to him last night.’
‘Very well. Why did you suspect?’
‘You have to understand: Taddeo was great to me and Carmen when we arrived in Naples. We’d just found Alaric so, sure, we were enjoying our fifteen minutes. But even so. He gave us his personal tour of the museum. Then he invited us as his special guests to the opening of an exhibition. That’s where we met Lucia and Raff, as it happens. So, apart from anything else, I owed him my job and my flat. Anyway, there was a group of us there that night. Carmen was telling them about her thesis. Specifically, about a Roman empress called Galla Placidia who plays a big part in it. Taddeo mentioned he had a whole portfolio case at home of drawings of her famous tomb mosaics, and would she like to come see them sometime? One of the women there glanced down at the floor. It was only for a millisecond, but I taxed her with it later anyway. She claimed I’d imagined it. Then the next morning I got an anonymous email saying that four different women had come over so woozy at Santoro’s house over the past few years that they’d had to stay the night. There was no evidence of anything improper, but still…’
‘Four is a lot.’
‘Yes. So, anyway, Taddeo invited Carmen again the next time we met. He pressed her quite hard. And he was a difficult man to say no to. Not just his personal charm and forcefulness; his power too. Upset him, he could ruin your career.’
‘Go on.’
‘I didn’t have enough to go to the police. Not against a man like him. But I couldn’t ignore it either. There was some big political gala up in Rome that he attended with his wife. I found out where he lived and went out there while they were away. Their alarm system is pathetic. I broke in and looked around. The guest bedroom had a huge TV on its wall and a great big recliner smack in front. It was pristine too, except for some finger smudges at the back of the closet. That turned out to be a spring-loaded panel with a safe behind. I tried to open it, but I wasn’t skilful enough.’
Izzo grunted. ‘I’ll say. Skilful burglars don’t leave fingerprints.’
‘Combination locks are all about feel,’ pointed out Cesco. ‘You can’t feel with gloves on.’
‘Never heard of cleaning up after yourself?’
‘What is this? Burglary school? Anyway, I was tired and it was getting light. So I put everything back as I’d found it and got out of there.’
‘Allowing Santoro to carry on as before?’
‘Fuck you,’ said Cesco. ‘What was I supposed to do? Besides, I didn’t do nothing. I took a tip from that email I’d received. I set up a new account and sent him an anonymous message. We know what you’ve been doing. We’ll be watching. That kind of thing. And he never asked Carmen out again. Or anyone else that I know of. Then our Alaric excavation got cancelled, thanks to the shitty weather. We hardly saw him after that. The weeks went by. Frankly, I forgot about it. If it hadn’t been for Raffaele—’
Izzo’s phone rang at that moment. He glanced down at it, held up his finger for silence. ‘Hey, Valentina,’ he said. ‘I’m in the car with Rossi. You’re on loudspeaker.’
‘Ah,’ she said.
‘Got you,’ said Izzo. ‘Give me a moment.’ He pulled up onto the pavement, put on his hazard lights. He told Cesco to stay where he was, then grabbed his keys and phone and got out, pacing back and forth along the pavement. When he climbed back in, he looked grey and grim, as though he’d just had bad news from his doctor. ‘That woman at the party,’ he said, buckling himself back in. ‘The one who looked down at the floor. It was Lucia Conte, wasn’t it?’
‘Why would you think that?’
‘Just tell me.’
‘Is she on one of the DVDs?’
‘You know I can’t tell you that.’ But then he did anyway, by making a fist and punching the steering wheel. A little harder than he’d intended, from the way he winced and shook his hand. ‘This whole shitty story is going to get out soon. That’s how she’ll learn about it, unless I can break it to her first. Her and the others too. Because she’s our best bet for putting names to faces. But how can I go see her with you in the car? I can’t have her thinking I betrayed her to someone who didn’t already know.’
‘Fine,’ sighed Cesco. ‘Yes, it was Lucia.’
‘Thank you.’ He tried her mobile. She didn’t answer. He left a message for her to call back, then tried the library. No luck there either. ‘You don’t know her home number, by any chance?’ he asked.
‘She doesn’t have one. But I do know where she lives. And it’s only a couple of minutes from the library. Two birds, one stone.’
‘Okay,’ nodded Izzo. ‘Let’s do it.’