The Crocodile by Maurizio de Giovanni

Author:Maurizio de Giovanni [Giovanni, Maurizio de]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: crime, mystery, Naples, noir
ISBN: 9781609451196
Amazon: 1609451198
Publisher: Europa Editions
Published: 2013-07-02T00:00:00+00:00

The short drive to police headquarters took place in silence. The documents that a disgruntled and openly hostile Savarese had handed over added very little to what Lojacono already knew.

Ballistics testing had been performed on both the shell casing and the bullet removed from Lorusso’s head during the postmortem, confirming the caliber of the weapon, a .22 pistol. Faxed copies of the police reports on the second murder further confirmed the correspondence between cartridge and projectile. An innovative computerized analysis had been used—the Integrated Ballistic Identification System (IBIS). It produced the same results: there was no doubt that it was the same weapon.

The tissues, on the other hand, offered little information.

Apart from traces of a liquid that was probably human tears, there were also remnants of shredded epithelial tissue, plausibly the result of rubbing against the eyelids. The DNA sequencing—completed in record time since this case involved a serial killer—provided confirmation that all the samples came from a single individual. Unfortunately, it matched none of the evidence on file in the database and so it was useless in terms of tracking down a suspect.

There was no trace of fingerprints. The kids’ clothing and Lorusso’s helmet only revealed the victims’ own fingerprints. Either the Crocodile had touched nothing or else he was wearing gloves.

There were no reports on the third murder, which had taken place too recently, but Lojacono knew that certain elements must have been confirmed, otherwise he would never have been invited along.

Sitting in the backseat next to Savarese, a corpulent cop in his fifties with a perennially furrowed brow, Lojacono wondered why Piras had decided to summon him. He didn’t think he’d shown any particular signs of acuity or demonstrated any special skills. The one explanation that struck him as plausible was the fact that from the very outset, more out of instinct than any strong line of reasoning, he had ruled out the theory that these were Camorra murders. Clearly, this third murder had persuaded the assistant DA of the same thing.

When they reached police headquarters, both men followed Di Vincenzo, who knew the way, up to a third-floor meeting room. Sitting around a conference table piled high with documents were four men in plain clothes, a woman armed with a pen and notebook, and Piras, who raised a hand in greeting.

“Ah, there you are. Fine, you’re all acquainted. Inspector Lojacono is here because I asked him to come, and I’ll explain why later. Lojacono, these are the station captains within whose jurisdictions the murders took place, and their deputies in charge of the individual station investigations. To speed things up, I’ve asked them to introduce themselves whenever they happen to join in the discussion. This meeting became necessary because the latest murder, the one in upper Vomero, in my opinion casts a new light on the situation. It’s crucial that we give this new development full consideration.”

A smartly dressed older man broke in with some annoyance.

“Scognamiglio, station captain of Via Manzoni. Dottoressa, I’m not really all

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