A Noble Radiance Read Free Page B

responded as was standard in cases of kidnapping and had
effectively blocked all attempts on the part of the family to borrow money or
bring it in from foreign sources, and so the second demand also went unmet.
Count Ludovico, the father of the kidnapped boy, went on national television
and begged those responsible to free his son. He said he was willing to give
himself up to them in his son's place, though he was too upset to explain how
this could be done.
    There was no response
to his appeal; there was no third ransom demand.
    That was two years
ago, and since then there had been no sign of the boy, Roberto, and no further
progress, at least not public progress, on the case. Though the family's assets
had been unblocked after a period of six months, they remained for another year
under the control of a government administrator, who had to consent to the withdrawal
or liquidation of any sum in excess of a hundred million lire. Many such sums
passed out of the Lorenzoni family businesses during that period, but all of
them were legitimate, and so permission was given for them to be paid out.
After the administrator's powers lapsed, a gentle governmental eye, as
discreet as it was invisible, continued to observe the Lorenzoni business and
spending, but no outlay was indicated beyond the normal course of business
expenditure.
    The boy, though
another three years would have to pass before he could be declared legally
dead, was believed by his family to be so in the real sense. His parents
mourned in their fashion: Count Ludovico redoubled the energy he devoted to his
business concerns, while the Contessa withdrew into private devotion and acts
of piety and charity. Roberto was an only child, so the family was now
perceived as having no heir, and thus a nephew, the son of Ludovico's younger
brother, was brought into the business and groomed to take over the direction
of the Lorenzoni affairs, which included vast and diverse holdings in Italy and
abroad.
    The news that the
skeleton of a young man wearing a ring with the Lorenzoni family crest had
been found was telephoned to the Venice police from the phone in one of the Carabinieri vehicles
and received by Sergeant Lorenzo Vianello, who took careful notes of the
location, the name of the owner of the property, and of the man who had discovered
the body.
    After replacing the
phone, Vianello went upstairs and knocked on the door of his immediate superior,
Comrnissario Guido Brunetti. When he heard the shouted 'Avanti', Vianello
pushed open the door and went into Brunetti's office.
    'Buon di, Comrnissario’ he said and, not having to be invited, took
his usual place in the chair opposite Brunetti, who sat behind his desk, a
thick folder opened in front of him. Vianello noticed that his superior was
wearing glasses; he didn't remember ever seeing them before.
    'Since when do you
wear glasses, sir?' he asked.
    Brunetti looked up
then, his eyes strangely magnified by the lenses. 'Just for reading,' he said,
taking them off and tossing them down on to the papers in front of him. I don't
really need them. It’s just that it makes the fine print on these papers from
Brussels easier to read’ With thumb and forefinger, he grabbed at the bridge
of his nose and rubbed it, as if to remove the impression of the glasses as
well as that left by what he had been reading.
    He looked up at the
sergeant. 'What is it?'
    'We've had a call
from the Carabinieri in a place called ...' he began, then looked down at the piece of paper in his hand. 'Col di Cugnan.'
Vianello paused but Brunetti said nothing. 'It's in the province of Belluno,'
as if giving Brunetti a clear idea of the geography would be helpful. When
Brunetti still said nothing, Vianello continued. 'A farmer up there has dug up
a body in a field. It appears to be a young man in his early twenties’
    'According to whom?'
Brunetti interrupted.
    'I think it was the medico legale, sir’
    'When did this
happen?' Brunetti