The Patience of the Spider Read Free Page B

shutter.
    Eeeeh! echoes the inspector.
That time, however, he didnt keep his voice down. In a
    flash, Livia opens her eyes and sits up in bed.
Salvo! Are you unwell?
Why?
You were moaning!
I must have been doing it in my sleep. Sorry. Go back to
    sleep.
Goddamned window!
    2
    A gelid blast is blowing in through the wide-open window. Its always
that way in hospitals.They cure your appendicitis and then make you
die of pneumonia. Hes sitting in an armchair. Only two days left,
and he can finally go back to Marinella. But since six oclock that
morning, squads of women have been cleaning everything: corridors,
rooms, closets, windows, doorknobs, beds, chairs. Its as if a great cloud
of clean-up mania had descended on the place. Sheets, pillowcases,
blankets are changed, the bathroom sparkles so brightly its blinding;
you need sunglasses to go in there.
    Whats going on? he asks a nurse whos come to help him get
back in bed.
    Some big cheese is coming.
    Who?
    I dont know.
    Listen, couldnt I just stay in the armchair?
    No, you cant.
    A little while later, Strazzera shows up, disappointed not to find
Livia in the room.
    I think she might drop in later, Montalbano sets his mind at
rest.
    But hes just being mean. He said might just to keep the doctor
    on tenterhooks. Livia assured him shed be there to see him, only a lit
    tle late.
    So whos coming?
    Petrotto.The undersecretary.
    What for?
    To congratulate you.
    Fuck.Thats all he needs.The honorable Gianfranco Petrotto, former
chamber deputy, now undersecretary of the interior, though once
convicted for corruption, another time for graft, and a third time let off
the hook by the statute of limitations. An ex-Communist and ex-
Socialist, now a triumphant member of the party in power.
    Couldnt you give me a shot to knock me out for three hours or
so? he implores Strazzera.
    The doctor throws his hands up and goes out.
    The honorable Gianfranco Petrotto arrives, preceded by a powerful
roar of applause that echoes through the corridor. But the only
people allowed to enter the room with him are the prefect, the commissioner,
the hospital superintendent, and a deputy from the politicos
retinue.
    Everyone else, wait outside! he commands with a shout.
    Then his mouth opens and closes, and he begins to talk. And
talk. And talk. He doesnt know that Montalbano has plugged his
ears with surgical cotton to the point where they feel like theyre about
to explode and cant hear the bullshit hes saying.
    Its been a while now since the shutter stopped wailing. He
barely has time to look at the clockfour forty-fivebefore
he falls asleep at last.
    In his sleep he could faintly hear the telephone ringing and
ringing.
    He opened one eye, looked at the clock. Six oclock. Hed
slept barely an hour and fifteen minutes. He got up in a hurry,
wanting to stop the ringing before it reached Livia in the
depths of her sleep. He picked up the receiver.
    Chief, whadd I do, wake you up?
Cat, its six in the morning. On the dot.
Actually my watch gots six oh tree.
That means its a little fast.
You sure bout that, Chief?
Absolutely.
Okay, so Ill put it tree minutes slow. Tanks, Chief.
Youre welcome.
Catarella hung up. Montalbano did likewise, then headed
    back to the bedroom. Halfway there, he started cursing. What
kind of goddamn phone call was that? Catarella calls him at the
crack of dawn to find out if his watch has the right time? At
that moment the phone rang again. The inspector quickly
picked up the receiver after the first ring.
    Beck ypardin, Chief, but that bizniss bout the time made
me forget to tell you the real reason for the phone call I jes
phoned you about.
    So tell me.
Seems some girls motorbikes been seized.
Seized or robbed?
Seized.
    Montalbano fumed. But he had no choice but to smother
his urge to yell.
    And you wake me up at six in the morning to tell me the
Carabinieri or Customs police have