Death and Judgement (30 page)

She had warned him, but he had refused to listen. She had even named the man who would send her killers. Or perhaps there was someone even more powerful than him involved in this, another respectable man who, like the centurion in the Bible, had but to say, 'Go' and someone went
.
Or three such servants went to do his bidding.

From memory, he dialled a number of a friend who was a colonel at the Guardia di Finanza and briefly explained about Trevisan, Favero and Lotto and the money they must have been receiving, and hiding, for years. The colonel said they'd look into Signora Trevisan's finances as soon as they had time and personnel available. When Brunetti put the phone down, he felt no better. He put his elbows on his desk, lowered his head into his cupped hands, and sat that way for a long time. He had brought her in before dawn, but by eight o'clock the men from Special Branch had already come to get her.

He pushed himself up from his desk and went down to
the
officers
’
room two floors below, seeking Preside, the man who had been on guard duty when he brought Signora Ceroni in. He had gone off duty at eight but in his logbook he had noted, '6:18 a.m. Lt Scarpa takes over day shift. Comm. Brunetti's report to Lt Scarpa.'

He left the room and stood for a moment in the hall, surprised that it took a few moment
s to feel entirely steady.
He turned and walked towards the stairway that would take him from the Questura, forcing his mind away from the knowledge that remained behind him there. He started down the stairs, thinking of Signora Ceroni and of their strange journey through
the
night He realized that he would never understand why she had done it Perhaps you had to be a woman. He'd ask Paola. She usually understood things.
At that thought Brunetti's heart came back to him, and he left the Questura, going home.