Free A Fine Line by Gianrico Carofiglio Page B

Guerrieri!”
    â€œAm I disturbing you? Is this a bad time?”
    â€œOn the contrary. At moments like this, it’s great to get a phone call.”
    â€œWhat you mean by moments like this ?”
    â€œI’ve been stuck in a van for the past two hours, glued to a pair of binoculars and a camera with a telephoto lens. My only company is a flask of water and mineral salts. I thought it’d be better than grappa in the circumstances.”
    â€œSo maybe you can’t talk?”
    â€œYes, I can. I’m a hundred metres from the target. I can talk and watch. Especially as I have to be here for quite a while. Dammit.”
    â€œThe target?”
    â€œI’m waiting for a guy to come out of a place where he shouldn’t be. One of those cases that puts food on my table, even though they aren’t really my passion.”
    â€œMarital infidelity.”
    â€œTechnically, no. Not until there’s a law on gay marriage.”
    It took me a couple of seconds to get my head round this. “They even ask you to investigate infidelity in homosexual couples?”
    â€œMuch more than you might imagine.”
    â€œWhy? It can’t be used in court.”
    â€œEven hetero couples often don’t know what to do with these investigations, legally speaking. You know as well as I do they can only be used to reduce the amount of alimony in a divorce settlement. They want proof their suspicions are correct, they want photos, they want things they already know to be confirmed. They want to feed their resentment. It’s just another form of masochism. Then, of course, they throw the photos in their partner’s face or throw them out of the house or walk out themselves, it all depends. An expensive and rather crazy kind of satisfaction. But it’s fortunate for me, because at least fifty per cent of my income comes from crap like this.”
    There were a few moments’ silence. I was thinking about what she had said, while she was catching her breath.
    â€œSorry to go on like that, but I was about to go out of my head. The guy still hasn’t come out and I’d like to be somewhere else. A long way away. But I assume you wanted to tell me something, you didn’t call to give me moral support.”
    â€œI need to talk to you about a possible assignment. It’s a rather delicate matter. When can we meet?”
    â€œAre you in the office in the afternoon?”
    â€œI’ve been in the office in the afternoon for over twenty years.”
    â€œExcellent. Then you won’t mind waiting for me. I don’t know what time I’ll be free, it depends on this bastard. As soon as I’m done, I’ll go home, take a shower, and come to see you. If you’re busy with clients, I’ll wait. That’s what I’m best at, after all.”
    â€œWaiting?”
    â€œWaiting. Bye, Avvocato, I’ll see you later.”
    The job must have lasted quite a while because it was after seven by the time Annapaola got to the office. She wore faded jeans and a black leather jacket, and was carrying a menacing-looking wraparound black helmet.
    â€œHow did the surveillance go?”
    â€œI took at least a hundred photos, then a really long shower. Sometimes I wonder why it’s so hard for me to find an honest job.”
    â€œBut you enjoy it, don’t you?”
    â€œI did at first, but I get bored easily. What did you want to talk to me about?”
    I told her about the case. She sat motionless in the armchair, listening attentively without so much as a nod, until I had finished.
    â€œLet me see if I’ve got this right. You’d like me to make some enquiries, ask a few questions, talk to—”
    â€œI don’t want to know who you talk to, assuming you’re able to talk to someone, and also assuming you accept the assignment.”
    â€œOkay. You want me to ask someone you don’t want to know the name of if there are