Frame-Up (36 page)

"Cecilia, you really think of everything and you can be certain that I’ll
not reveal what we have been up too. And I’ll talk to
il capo
, about
staying here for a few more days."

"So, Wednesday at the latest."

Monday, 10
^th
November, 8:30
a.m.

This morning I ignore the alarm, letting it work itself through the
agonizing sequence of more and more insistent beeps. Carlo going to the
toilet some time later finally drives me out of bed. I don’t dare leaving
him unsupervised until he is completely over the aftereffects of the drugs.
As it turns out, he goes straight back to bed and refuses my offer of a hot
drink.

I make myself a double espresso, thaw a croissant in the microwave,
and eat it leisurely. I am a free woman, no jail threat hanging over me any
longer — the quest that has driven me for the last fourteen days
accomplished; the absence of uncertainty, of impatience, of anxiety,
freeing but also unaccustomed.

What am I going to do with myself? I’m clear about one thing. I’m not
going back to be a stockbroker. But what else? Silvio’s dream of
ultimately opening his own restaurant rises in my mind. If we become
partners, as I fervently hope, even get married, and I want to be
supportive of his dream, my choice of what to do will to some extent
depend on where he opens his restaurant. He hinted that he prefers
somewhere along the lakes at the foot of the Alps or even in the
mountains. Obviously, a bigger city, like Milan or Turin would offer
more opportunities for my professional skills … How about going into
partnership with him also business wise? Putting one or even two hundred
thousand pounds of my own funds into the venture might allow us to take
over a restaurant the moment something suitable comes along. I wonder
whether this would be enough of a challenge for me; offer me sufficient
intellectual stimulation in the long run … But going into partnership with
Silvio in more than one way doesn’t necessarily imply that I couldn’t
diversify my energies sooner or later also in other directions —
something that offers flexibility in terms of time input. Financial
consultant? Small business venture consultant? Information systems
consultant? I would feel confident to master any of those. So living in a
sufficiently big city wouldn’t be essential as long as I have access to high-speed Internet access.

My ruminations are cut short by my father’s call on the land line.

"Cecilia, a friend of mine in the City Police Department, whom I asked
to keep me informed of any major development in your case, just
informed me that Garland was arrested late last night and that all charges
against you have been withdrawn. Congratulations."

"Yes, it was a rather eventful night yesterday. Carlo got shot, nothing
serious, fortunately, just a bullet in the arm."

"What do you mean? I don’t understand. I thought he went to
Montagnola."

"No, he failed to board the plane. When I discovered that, I used him
to trap Garland. I uncovered the evidence I needed and gave it to DI
Willis."

"So it was all your doing. But why was Carlo shot?"

I give him a somewhat sanitized version of what happened, leaving out
our intention of breaking into Garland’s house in case Carlo did not show
up. There is no need for this much honest disclosure. I conclude with: "DI
Willis has confined Carlo to live with me under my supervision until the
matter of whether he will be charged has been settled."

"Isn’t it rather ironic? You make the decision not to protect him any
longer, to make him face up to the consequences of his actions, and now
you are thrown right back into being his mother again."

"Yes, but it won’t be for long and it will be different. Maybe what
happened, how close he has come to have a criminal record, might help
Carlo to have a careful look at his life. Maybe if both you and I work on
him, offer him support, he might be willing to go into treatment for his
addiction."

"I doubt he will look kindly at any advice or help coming from me."

"Maybe not, but you are his father. If you make the gesture of offering
help, I don’t mean dictate to him what he has to do, but offer support and
show that you accept him for what he is, not for what you would like him
to be, it may be different. It’s high time that you two accept each other.
He was very hurt when you and mother split up. I think he felt that some
of it was his fault, since you often fought over his misbehavior, not to
speak of having been in constant strife with you in the year before."

"Did he tell you that? Don’t you think that’s just an excuse for his
antisocial behavior?"

"No, dad, he didn’t tell me that in so many words. I inferred it from
other things, and his behavior is not antisocial. Being hooked on drugs is
not the same as being antisocial. As far as I know he has never hurt
another person, at least not physically. He doesn’t finance his drugs by
stealing —"

"No, because he always gets the money for the drugs from you. You
are not doing him a favor with that."

"He is my brother and he is your son. This is the first time he’s in
trouble with the police. Do you want him to end up becoming a convict
who’s in and out of prison? … No? … Then show him that you are
willing to be his father." I’m working myself into anger.

"All right, Cecilia, I hear you. I don’t want you to get angry with me.
You’re too precious. You guide me."

"Thank you, dad. With the Mafia threat gone, are you getting Lucy and
the girls to come back home? I could fetch them. I might even convince
Carlo to meet his two darling sisters. I’m sure they would wind him
around their little fingers."

"You think it is a good idea that they meet him?"

"Yes, dad, getting to know Lucy and his sisters might be healing for
him."

"All right." He doesn’t sound convinced.

"Carlo likes children, dad. Don’t worry. May I borrow your car to
fetch them? I could do it tomorrow."

"Sure. I’ll ask Lucy and let you know by this evening."

"Thanks, dad." The iPhone sounds the opening notes of Beethoven’s
third. "Dad, I have another call. See you soon." I disconnect as I hear his
"bye".

It’s Silvio. For the third time I go through last night’s events.

"So you’re clear. I’m so glad for you. It must be a big load off your
shoulders."

"Yes, it is."

"And now you’ll even be rid of the
mafioso
."

"You’re really jealous of Fausto, I think. But yes, our association is
finished, except that I’ve invited him to celebrate the successful
completion of the Sanvino affair with a sumptuous dinner at your place."

"You didn’t."

"I did, and I count on you to join us. You might even get to like him.
He doesn’t fit my typical picture of a gangster, at least not in his attitude
toward me."

He remains silent for a while.

"Silvio, getting to know him, you will see that there is no reason for
jealousy."

"OK, Ceci. It just feels daunting to associate knowingly with a
mafioso
."

"Silvio, you must have served and chatted with quite a few Mafia
people over the years."

"I guess you’re right. I’ve suspected a number of customers not to be
quite kosher."

My next call is to Fausto.

"
Il capo
was very pleased to hear that we have solved the case," he
reports. "He told me to thank you for your help. That’s a rare admission
for him, you know. He also agrees that I should stay here and arrange for
the money to be deposited to the Ventura account. Do you think it would
be all right if I approached DI Willis already today about that?"

"Yes, I think so. And I’ve more news for you, Fausto. I have arranged
our celebration dinner at
Il Corno d’Oro
for Wednesday evening. Let’s
meet at the bar there around six thirty."

"I’m looking forward to that. You know, Cecilia, I have to admit that
I wasn’t at all keen when
il capo
ordered me to go to London. It promised
to be an unpleasant job. But now I’m glad I came. It was a real education
to work with you, and I only suffered a bloody nose." He chuckles.

"You’re not still sore at me for that?"

"No, it was an appropriate punishment for my arrogance. You taught
me never to underestimate an opponent."

"Oh, Fausto, you really are a strange
mafioso
, but I like you."

"Thank you, Cecilia, I am honored."

Monday, 12.04 p.m.

The land line rings. I answer.

"DI Willis here. Good morning, Miss Walker."

I check the clock on the microwave. He is slightly behind. "Good
afternoon, sir."

"Is it that late already? Yes … Miss Walker, I thought you were
entitled to know that Garland has made a full confession. He has also
implicated Gary Buxton and Robert Gough, both from Goldsax, as
accomplices. He paid them each one hundred thousand pounds. We are
currently bringing them in for questioning. If it’s any consolation,
Garland also claims that it had never occurred to him that Ventura would
ever get wind of the rise in the value of the Sanvino shares or that it
would lead to your arrest on suspicion of fraud."

"Not much of a consolation, is it, for all the trouble and unpleasantness
it caused me."

"Criminals always find ways to minimize what they do, but I think I
owe you an apology for the unpleasantness we caused you, particularly
Somes’ behavior, as well as my thanks for your unorthodox actions to
solve this case. Sometimes I wish that we were permitted to use similar
methods. As I said last night, all charges against you have been
withdrawn and no other ones will be filed."

"Thank you, sir, for telling me. I guess Somes won’t be pleased. She
really wanted to see me behind bars."

He laughs. "Right. She’ll never forgive you for having bested her."

"She had me in her sight right from the first interview, as you may
remember."

"Yes, I was rather surprised."

"Will the fingerprints she took from me with such obvious pleasure be
destroyed now?"

"No, they will be attached to the Garland file as proof that none of the
incriminating documents contain your prints."

"Fine. Will Garland be charged for firing the gun?"

"No. He claims it was a defensive reaction and given the
circumstances in which it happened this is hard to refute. A charge of
willfully firing a gun would not hold up in court."

"But he removed the gun from his desk drawer before I threw the brick
into the window. In fact, that was the reason for smashing the window."

"I understand, but if we charge him with that, then your brother will
have to be charged with attempted blackmail. I guess you would rather
avoid that."

"Yes, you guessed correctly. What really matters is that I am cleared
of any wrongdoing. Thank you, sir."
And Carlo’s wound isn’t serious and
may be a wake-up call for him.

"I have another matter for which I would like your input," Willis
resumes after a short pause. "A Mr. Fausto … Bergamini from Ventura
has asked for an appointment with me about the recovery of the two
million pounds plus. Do you know him? Is he genuine?"

"Yes, he approached me, I think about two weeks ago, and wanted
information about the Sanvino affair. I also talked to Mr. Carvaggio of
Ventura Holdings and he confirmed that Mr. Bergamini is his
representative." I figure it is wiser to follow the same advice I gave
Fausto. "If I may ask, what will happen to that money?"

"Garland, on advice of his lawyer, has agreed to make good the entire
amount. It will help him to get a reduced sentence."

"Ventura will be happy to hear that."

"That’s why I asked you about Mr. Bergamini, whether it would be
permissible to give him that information."

"Sir, you can always call Mr. Carvaggio directly."

"Right. That’s all."

"Wait, sir. What’s going to happen about my brother?"

"Since all he did was to provide his signature for opening a bank
account, but had no further involvement in the fraud, and has a clean
record up to now, he is likely to get a stern warning and diversion. And
as a said, we will ignore his attempt to blackmail Garland. If he does not
re-offend within one year, everything will be wiped from his record."