Free A Voice in the Night by Andrea Camilleri Page A

supermarket, with an armchair and pair of metal filing cabinets full of binders. No mobile anywhere to be seen.
    Montalbano opened the desk’s three drawers one after the other and was immediately convinced they contained no mobile.
    But there was something that didn’t add up. And all of a sudden he realized what it was.
    Just under the edge of the desktop, above the right-hand drawer, were the electrical sockets and phone jack necessary for using a computer. But there was no computer on the desk.
    Fazio, who’d been following the inspector’s movements attentively, immediately understood.
    ‘It’s possible he didn’t have a computer at home. These desks are ready-made for computers, so it doesn’t mean . . .’
    Montalbano moved a few papers that were on the desk, and from underneath them appeared a mouse and a keyboard. He showed them to Fazio without saying anything.
    Fazio suddenly slapped himself on the forehead and ran to the entranceway. The inspector followed him.
    Fazio opened the door softly and tried to put the key in the lock. It encountered resistance again.
    ‘It’s been forced,’ he said. ‘Somebody came in and—’
    ‘Made off with the computer,’ Montalbano concluded.
    ‘But the weird thing is that they definitely did it after I tested the key earlier,’ said Fazio. ‘When we were at the supermarket. And it’s possible
that—’
    ‘Right now they’re at the supermarket to get the other computer, because they don’t know that we’ve already got it,’ Montalbano concluded again. ‘It’s
like we’re taking turns.’
    ‘What should we do? Pay them a visit?’ Fazio suggested.
    ‘Let’s.’
    *
    They sped to the supermarket. On the way there, Fazio asked:
    ‘Are you armed?’
    ‘No. Are you?’
    ‘I am. There’s a wrench in the glove compartment. You should take it. It’s better than nothing.’
    It wasn’t the first wrench he’d had to deal with recently, he thought as he slipped it into his jacket pocket.
    ‘First we’ll go past the main entrance and see if there are any cars parked outside,’ said Fazio.
    There were no cars. Fazio drove carefully to the area behind the supermarket. There were no cars there, either.
    When they got out, the first thing they saw were the police seals on the ground. Fazio had put them back when they’d gone out, of that he was certain.
    So there was someone inside the supermarket, or else there had just been someone.

SEVEN
    They had their confirmation that someone had been there after them when this key, too, had a lot of trouble fitting into the lock.
    At last the key turned, but contrary to Montalbano’s expectations, Fazio did not open the door right away, but turned and looked at him.
    ‘So?’
    ‘Let’s make a deal first,’ said Fazio.
    ‘Let’s hear it.’
    ‘I’ll go in, but you won’t.’
    ‘Why?’
    ‘Because you’re not armed.’
    ‘But I’ve got the wrench!’
    ‘You can just imagine how scared they’ll be when they see you’ve got a wrench. I’d bet the family jewels that the men in there are the same ones who’ve already
killed two people.’
    ‘Listen to me for a second, Fazio. There’s no way I’m waiting outside! And don’t forget that I give the orders around here!’
    ‘Chief, with all due respect, just think for a second. It’s so dark in there you can’t take a single step. You can’t even see an inch in front of you. And if you run into
another stack of detergent, they’ll blow us away before we can say “boo”.’
    Humiliated and offended, but realizing that Fazio was right, he didn’t know what to say.
    ‘All right?’
    ‘All right,’ Montalbano promised, swallowing the bitter pill.
    Fazio took out his pistol, cocked it, opened the door, and went in.
    Montalbano closed the door most of the way and peered through the crack. But he couldn’t see a thing. Total blindness. And it was all surely the fault of ageing. On top of everything else,
he couldn’t hear anything either,