A Death In Calabria by Michele Giuttari

Author:Michele Giuttari [Giuttari, Michele]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781408702833
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Published: 2010-07-01T04:00:00+00:00

PART THREE

ORANGE BLOSSOM

19

Wednesday, 12 November

The outlines of the mountains began to appear in the dim light of dawn.

The sky was covered in threatening black clouds. In addition, an icy north wind was blowing, howling in the dense foliage of the trees then occasionally subsiding into deep silence.

Captain Foti and three men from his team, wrapped in windbreakers and heavy woollen sweaters, advanced along paths that wound between tall trees. Weeds, thorns and shrubs were their only companions, apart from the music of the wind. They had set off several hours earlier. Helped through the most difficult areas by infra-red binoculars, they had made their way in the pitch dark, ears pricked for the slightest noise, the cold air freezing their faces and turning their eyes red and their lips white. Now they had almost reached the top of a hill. From here, they would be able to keep an eye on Antonio Russo’s farmhouse, a few hundred yards away as the crow flies. From now on, they would be watching it day and night. Twenty-four hours a day. In a place like this, it was an intensely boring kind of stakeout, but they were used to it.

‘How about some coffee?’ Foti asked.

‘Exactly what we need,’ the oldest of the officers replied.

The others nodded.

They poured the coffee, still steaming, from the camping thermos into plastic cups, and the white of the steam gradually wafted away into the air. The coffee was surprisingly tasty.

Foti put his empty cup in a plastic bag and went over the instructions.

‘Any movement you see, any sign of life inside the farmhouse, write it down. Any cars that come, try to indicate the make, the model and the colour. And remember to take as many photographs as possible.’

‘We won’t let anything get past us, Captain,’ one of the men replied. He sounded as if he meant business.

The wind was still howling, occasionally it seemed to be getting worse. It was a terrible autumn day.

‘You’ll be relieved when the time comes. Keep your eyes open, that’s the main thing. Keep your eyes open.’

‘Yes, sir,’ they all replied.

‘And remember to notify your colleagues should any emergency arise.’

In the same area, though at a safe distance, another group of officers was sitting in an unmarked off-road vehicle. They were there to keep an eye on Antonio Russo’s movements, following him if necessary.

‘Yes, sir.’

‘Good,’ Foti said. ‘I’d best go now, before it starts to rain. The colonel’s waiting for me.’ He set off back along the same path by which they had come.

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