television. There's the lounge.'
'There's no need to shout, I can—'
'Just wait till I get there. I'll sort it out. You keep phoning up and it's costing a fortune. You know when we got the telephone put in we agreed to phone once a week as usual.' In fact, she had phoned him just as often, each time with some new problem they hadn't thought about.
'In that case, leave the boys with my sister, like we suggested before and you come up first and see to things.'
'I was the one who suggested it and you said no!'
'Well, now I'm saying yes. After all, if you won't let me do anything .. .'
'All right. I'll speak to Nunziata and see if she's still willing. Have you been busy?'
'Fairly. The usual drug problems.' He had no desire to talk about the Vogel case which he hoped he'd finished with.
'Oh dear, Salva ... I'm beginning to worry about the boys. After all, they're growing up. You don't get that sort of thing going on here, not like in Florence.'
'We can't change our minds now. You know I could have been waiting years for a posting down there.'
'I suppose so . . .'
'Don't start worrying. They'll be all right.'
But he spent the rest of the night worrying about it himself, and hardly got any sleep at all. Every time he drifted into a doze he would have the same dream of trying to comfort the parents of the drug death boy only to realize that it was his own children they were weeping over and that their son was there with them. Then he would go searching for his two boys all over Florence until he remembered they were still in Syracuse. He was only too relieved to find himself properly awake well before the alarm went off; nevertheless, he felt heavy and depressed all morning and the three hours he was obliged to spend on tedious paperwork did nothing to distract him. When a distraction did arrive he had just settled into his armchair for a rest after lunch. And that wasn't the only reason why it was an unwelcome one.
'I've got Captain Maestrangelo on the line for you, Marshal.'
If it was that wretched Vogel woman . . .
'Put him through—No, wait, I'll come to my office.' So much for his nap. 'Captain?'
'I need your help on the Vogel case.'
'I see. Has something happened?'
'Yes, something has. This morning the Substitute gave permission for the seals to be removed from her room. The manager had been making a fuss and there seemed no good reason to refuse. The seals were removed immediately before lunch and after lunch the chambermaid went up to get the room ready for the next occupant. I won't go into all the details which you'll hear when you get there. The point is that somebody's been into that room and searched it. I want to know who and why.
'I'd go there myself,' he went on, 'but I've got four men out tailing a smalltime pusher we haven't seen around before, a Moroccan. I think we're finally getting somewhere and I want to be in constant radio contact with them.'
It was only partly true. This drug case wasn't just taking up a lot of his time but all his mental energy, too, which made it difficult to concentrate on anything else. And he was also convinced that Guarnaccia was the one person capable of sniffing out the truth about the Vogel woman.
The Marshal himself had no such conviction. He put down the receiver and began struggling grumpily into his holster. The worst of it was that the protagonist of this episode was sure to be that wretched little chambermaid who only read the horoscopes and who thought nothing of telling him to mind his own business.
'Lorenzini!' He stuck his head round the duty room door.
"Marshal? Is something wrong?'
'No . . . no. Everything under control?'
'Fairly quiet. The patrol car's just been called up to Forte di Belvedere. The residents are complaining about a funny smell.'
'They should have called the vigili.'
'They did. It was the vigili who called us.'
'Hmph. Well, I don't see why . . . What sort of funny smell?'
'Di Nuccio said cheese . . .'
'Cheese? That's all we
'There's no need to shout, I can—'
'Just wait till I get there. I'll sort it out. You keep phoning up and it's costing a fortune. You know when we got the telephone put in we agreed to phone once a week as usual.' In fact, she had phoned him just as often, each time with some new problem they hadn't thought about.
'In that case, leave the boys with my sister, like we suggested before and you come up first and see to things.'
'I was the one who suggested it and you said no!'
'Well, now I'm saying yes. After all, if you won't let me do anything .. .'
'All right. I'll speak to Nunziata and see if she's still willing. Have you been busy?'
'Fairly. The usual drug problems.' He had no desire to talk about the Vogel case which he hoped he'd finished with.
'Oh dear, Salva ... I'm beginning to worry about the boys. After all, they're growing up. You don't get that sort of thing going on here, not like in Florence.'
'We can't change our minds now. You know I could have been waiting years for a posting down there.'
'I suppose so . . .'
'Don't start worrying. They'll be all right.'
But he spent the rest of the night worrying about it himself, and hardly got any sleep at all. Every time he drifted into a doze he would have the same dream of trying to comfort the parents of the drug death boy only to realize that it was his own children they were weeping over and that their son was there with them. Then he would go searching for his two boys all over Florence until he remembered they were still in Syracuse. He was only too relieved to find himself properly awake well before the alarm went off; nevertheless, he felt heavy and depressed all morning and the three hours he was obliged to spend on tedious paperwork did nothing to distract him. When a distraction did arrive he had just settled into his armchair for a rest after lunch. And that wasn't the only reason why it was an unwelcome one.
'I've got Captain Maestrangelo on the line for you, Marshal.'
If it was that wretched Vogel woman . . .
'Put him through—No, wait, I'll come to my office.' So much for his nap. 'Captain?'
'I need your help on the Vogel case.'
'I see. Has something happened?'
'Yes, something has. This morning the Substitute gave permission for the seals to be removed from her room. The manager had been making a fuss and there seemed no good reason to refuse. The seals were removed immediately before lunch and after lunch the chambermaid went up to get the room ready for the next occupant. I won't go into all the details which you'll hear when you get there. The point is that somebody's been into that room and searched it. I want to know who and why.
'I'd go there myself,' he went on, 'but I've got four men out tailing a smalltime pusher we haven't seen around before, a Moroccan. I think we're finally getting somewhere and I want to be in constant radio contact with them.'
It was only partly true. This drug case wasn't just taking up a lot of his time but all his mental energy, too, which made it difficult to concentrate on anything else. And he was also convinced that Guarnaccia was the one person capable of sniffing out the truth about the Vogel woman.
The Marshal himself had no such conviction. He put down the receiver and began struggling grumpily into his holster. The worst of it was that the protagonist of this episode was sure to be that wretched little chambermaid who only read the horoscopes and who thought nothing of telling him to mind his own business.
'Lorenzini!' He stuck his head round the duty room door.
"Marshal? Is something wrong?'
'No . . . no. Everything under control?'
'Fairly quiet. The patrol car's just been called up to Forte di Belvedere. The residents are complaining about a funny smell.'
'They should have called the vigili.'
'They did. It was the vigili who called us.'
'Hmph. Well, I don't see why . . . What sort of funny smell?'
'Di Nuccio said cheese . . .'
'Cheese? That's all we
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