The Broken Frame by Claudio Ruggeri

Author:Claudio Ruggeri
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Babelcube Inc.
Published: 2016-01-23T05:00:00+00:00

December 3

“Vincent, may I come in?”

“Sure, Angelo, come in, come in.”

“We’ve received the information you requested, about the income taxes.”

“What does it say?”

"That eleven of the twelve families who live in that condo near the Cristoforo Colombo declare more than twenty-five thousand Euros a year."

“Eleven out of twelve? That’s interesting.”

"Yeah, and that's not all. We compared the reported income with their standard of living, and everything fits."

"Well, at this point I only need to ask you which family is not present in the list.”

"It isn’t really a family. It appears that the tax return is for one person. Virginia Lucci, who is single.”

“And her income declaration goes up to how much?”

“Not even five thousand Euros a month.”

"I understand. I want you to assemble a team of two or three people that can keep an eye out for a few days. In the meantime, we’ll dedicate ourselves investigating in another direction."

"Ok Vincent, I’ll go and tell the others."

Mrs. Lucci, in the opinion of the Commissioner, already looked like a person who had something to hide. It remained to be seen whether she was fleeing from something, or just concealing income from the tax office.

Meanwhile, Inspector Parisi briefed his team and gave then the necessary information about Virginia Lucci. Germano decided to make inquiries on his own. Once he’d discovered the identity of woman’s employer, he decided he’d pay him a visit.

The gentleman in question was named Luciano De Vincenzi. He lived just a few steps away from the lady, and declared that he paid her a few thousand Euros for domestic work.

Germano showed up at Luciano De Vincenzi’s house, without calling ahead as he normally did.

“Who is it?”

“The postman! I need you to sign for this parcel.”

As soon as the door opened the man came face to face with the Commissioner's badge.

“What’s going on?”

“Nothing Mr. De Vincenzi. I just need to have a little chat with you.”

“Okay, come on in.”

The entrance, and all of the rooms which Germano passed through on his way to the living room, gave off an air of melancholy. They looked more run down than they really were. Like the people who lived in them.

De Vincenzi was elderly, a man in his seventies, with a very pronounced hump. He was more deaf in one ear than the other. During the interview, Germano realized the other man was reading his lips.

“What can you tell me about Virginia Lucci?”

"Virginia? She's a good woman. She kept this house clean for me for several years. She always made sure it was comfortable, in exchange for money of course.”

“How much money?”

“Around three hundred Euros a month. She came twice a week”

“What do you mean she came, past tense?”

“Because she hasn’t showed up for the past two months. She failed to collect her salary the last time, so I thought she’d found something better.”

“Do you remember anything strange about Virginia Lucci’s behavior?”

"To be honest, no. She's always been punctual and hard-working during the five years she’s been working in this house."

“Have you tried

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