The Patience of the Spider Read Online Free Page B

one hand set their minds at rest, but on the other
alarmed them even further. Thus they wasted another hour.
    At this point in the storytheyd been driving in the
open countryside for a while and were now on a dirt road
Gallo pointed to a house about fifty yards ahead.
    Thats the villa.
    Montalbano didnt have time to look at it, however, because
Gallo suddenly turned right, onto another dirt road, this
one in pretty bad shape.
    Where are we going?
    To where they found the motorbike.
    It was Susannas boyfriend who had found it. After
searching in vain up and down the streets of Vig, hed taken
    a much longer route back to the villa. And there, about two
hundred yards from Susannas house, hed spotted the abandoned
moped and run to tell the father.
    Gallo pulled up, stopping behind the other squad car.
When Montalbano got out, Mimugello came up to him.
    I dont like the smell of this, Salvo. Thats why I had to
bother you. But things dont look good.
    Wheres Fazio?
    Inside the house, with the girls father. In case the kidnappers
call.
    Mind telling me the fathers name?
    Salvatore Mistretta.
    Whats he do?
    Used to be a geologist. Hes been halfway across the
world. Heres the motorbike.
    It was leaning against a low dry-wall outside a vegetable
garden. The bike was in perfect condition, no scratches or
scrapes, just a little dusty. Galluzzo was in the garden, seeing if
he could find anything of interest. Imbrd Battiato were
doing the same along the dirt road.
    Susannas boyfriend ...whats his name?
    Francesco Lipari.
    Where is he?
    I sent him home. He was exhausted and worried to
death.
    I was thinking. You dont think maybe it was Lipari
himself who moved the motorbike? Maybe he found it on the
ground, in the middle of the road
    No, Salvo. He swore up and down that he found it exactly
the way you see it there.
    Post a guard next to it. And dont let anybody touch it,
or forensics will go ballistic. Have you found anything?
    Not a thing. And to think the girl had a small knapsack
with her books and things, a cell phone, a wallet she always
kept in the back pocket of her jeans, the housekeys ...But
nothing. Its as if she ran into somebody she knew and
propped the motorbike against the wall so she could talk to
him.
    Montalbano seemed not to be listening, and Mimoticed.
    What is it, Salvo?
    I dont know, but something doesnt look right to me,
Montalbano muttered.
    And he started taking a few steps backward, as one does to
get a better look at something, to take it all in from the right
angle. Augello also stepped back, but only mechanically, because
the inspector had done so.
    Its backwards, Montalbano concluded a moment later.
    What is?
    The motorbike. Look at it, MimThe way we see it
right now, at a standstill, we should think it was going to
Vig.
    Mimooked, then shook his head.
    Thats true. But on that side of the road, it would be going
the wrong way. If it was going in the direction of Vig,
it should be on the other side, leaning against the wall opposite.
    As if a moped cared if it was going the wrong way! Hell,
you find those things on the landing outside your apartment!
Theyll drive right through your legs if they can! Forget about
    it. But if the girl was coming from Vig, the front wheel of
the motorbike should be pointed in the opposite direction. So
my question is: Why is the bike positioned the way it is?
    Jesus, Salvo, there could be a lot of reasons for that.
Maybe she turned the bike around to prop it up a little better
against the wall . . . Or maybe she herself turned around after
she saw someone she recognized . . .
    Anything is possible, Montalbano cut him off. Im going
over to the house. Come and join me after youve finished
searching here. And dont forget to post a guard.
    The villa was a two-storey building and must have once been
rather beautiful. Now, however, it showed signs of neglect.
And when one loses interest in a house, it