The Track of Sand (2 page)

“Bastards!”

The beast was all bloodied, its head broken open with some sort of iron rod, its whole body bearing the signs of a long, ferocious beating.There were deep, open wounds here and there, pieces of flesh dangling. It was clear that at a certain point the horse, battered as it was, had managed to escape and started running desperately away until it could go no further.

The inspector felt so furious and indignant that had he had one of the horse’s killers in his hands at that moment, he would have made him meet the same end. He started following the hoofprints.

Every so often they came to an abrupt halt, and in their place there were signs in the sand indicating that the poor animal had fallen to its knees.

He walked for almost forty-five minutes before reaching the spot where the horse had been bludgeoned.

Here, because of all the frantic stepping and tramping, the surface of the sand had formed a kind of circus ring marked with a confusion of overlapping shoe prints and hoofprints. Scattered around it were three iron bars stained with dried blood, and a long, broken rope, probably used to restrain the beast.The inspector started counting the different shoe prints, which was not easy. He came to the conclusion that four people, at most, had killed the horse. But two others had witnessed the spectacle, keeping still at the edge of the ring and smoking a few cigarettes from time to time.

He turned back, went into the house, and phoned the station.

“Halloo? Iss izza—”

“Catarella, Montalbano here.”

“Ah, Chief! Iss you? Whass wrong, Chief ?”

“Is Inspector Augello there?”

“’E in’t presentable yet.”

“Then lemme talk to Fazio, if he’s there.”

Less than a minute passed.

“What can I do for you, Chief ?”

“Listen, Fazio, I want you to come here to my place right away, and bring Gallo and Galluzzo with you, if they’re there.”

“Something up?”

“Yes.”

He left the front door to the house open and took a long walk down the beach. The barbaric slaughter of that poor animal had kindled a dull, violent rage in him. He approached the horse again and crouched down for a better look.They had even bludgeoned it in the belly, perhaps when it had reared up. Then he noticed that one of the horseshoes had come almost completely detached from the hoof. He lay on the ground, belly down, reached out and touched it. The horseshoe was held in place by a single nail, which had come halfway out of the hoof. At that moment Fazio, Gallo, and Galluzzo arrived, looked out from the veranda, spotted the inspector, and came down onto the beach. They looked at the horse and asked no questions.

Only Fazio spoke.

“There are some vile people in this world!” he commented.

“Gallo, think you can bring the car down here and then drive it along the beach?” Montalbano asked.

Gallo gave a haughty smile.

“Piece o’ cake, Chief.”

“Galluzzo, you go with him. I want you to follow the horse’s hoofprints.You shouldn’t have any trouble finding the spot where they bludgeoned the creature.There are iron rods, cigarette butts, and maybe other things as well. See for yourselves. Then gather everything together very carefully; I want fingerprints taken, DNA tests, the works. Anything that’ll help us identify these jokers.”

“And then what’ll we do? Report them to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals?” Fazio asked as the two of them were walking away.

“Why, do you think that’s all there is to this affair?”

“No, I don’t. I just wanted to make that quip.”

“Well, I don’t think it’s worth repeating. So why did they do it?”

Fazio made a doubtful face.

“Could be some kind of revenge on the horse’s owner.”

“Maybe. And that’s all?”

“No.There’s something more likely. I’ve heard talk . . .”

“Of what?”

“Of a clandestine horse-racing circuit in Vigàta.”

“And you think this horse was killed as a consequence of something that happened in those circles?”

“What else could it be? All we gotta do now is wait for the consequences of this consequence, which there will surely be.”

“But maybe it’s better if we can prevent these consequences, no?” said Montalbano.

“That’d be better, yes, but it ain’t gonna be easy.”

“Well, let’s begin by saying that before killing the horse, they must have stolen it.”

“Are you kidding, Chief? Nobody’s gonna report the stolen horse. It would be like coming to us and saying:
I’m one of the organizers of the illegal horse races
.”

“Is it a really big deal?”

“Millions and millions of euros in bets, they say.”

“And who’s behind it?”

“I’ve heard the name of Michele Prestia mentioned.”

“And who’s he?”

“Some nitwit, Chief, about fifty years old.Who up until last year worked as an accountant for a construction firm.”

“But this doesn’t seem to me like the work of some nitwit accountant.”

“Of course not, Chief. Prestia’s just a front man, in fact.”

“For whom?”

“Nobody knows.”

“You have to try to find out.”

“I’ll try.”

When they were back in the house, Fazio went into the kitchen to make coffee and Montalbano called City Hall to inform them that there was a horse’s carcass on the beach at Marinella.

“Is it your horse?”

“No.”

“Let’s be clear about this, sir.”

“Why, is there something unclear about what I said?”

“No, it’s just that sometimes people say the animal’s not theirs because they don’t want to pay the removal fee.”

“I told you it’s not my horse.”

“Okay, we’ll take your word for it. Do you know whose it is?”

“No.”

“Okay, we’ll take your word for it. Do you know what it died of ?”

Montalbano weighed his options and decided not to tell the clerk anything.

“No, I don’t. I just saw the dead body out my window.”

“So you didn’t see it die.”

“Obviously.”

“Okay, we’ll take your word for it,” said the clerk, who then started humming “Tu che a Dio spiegasti l’ali.”

A funeral lament for the horse? A kind homage from City Hall, as a way to take part in the mourning?

“Well?” said Montalbano.

“I was thinking,” said the clerk.

“What’s there to think about?”

“I have to figure out whose job it is to remove the carcass.”

“Isn’t it yours?”

“It would be ours if it’s an Article 11, but if, on the other hand, it’s an Article 23, it’s the job of the provincial Office of Hygiene.”

“Listen, given the fact that you’ve taken my word for everything thus far, I advise you to keep doing so. Because I assure you that either you come within fifteen minutes and haul it away, or I’m going to—”

“And who are you, may I ask?”

“I’m Inspector Montalbano.”

The clerk’s tone immediately changed.

“It’s definitely an Article 11, Inspector, I’m sure of it.”

Montalbano felt like screwing around.

“So it’s up to you to remove it?”

“It certainly is.”

“Are you absolutely sure?”

The clerk became worried.

“Why are you asking me—”

“I wouldn’t want the people at the Office of Hygiene to take it the wrong way. You know how prickly these questions of jurisdiction can be . . . I say this for your sake. I wouldn’t want—”

“No need to worry, Inspector. It’s an Article 11. Somebody will be there in half an hour. No trouble at all. My respects, sir.”

Montalbano and Fazio drank coffee in the kitchen while waiting for Gallo and Galluzzo to return.The inspector then took a shower, shaved, and got dressed, changing his shirt and trousers, which had got soiled.When he went back into the dining room he saw Fazio on the veranda, talking to two men dressed like astronauts who had just stepped out of a space shuttle.

On the beach was a little Fiat Fiorino van with its rear doors closed.The horse was no longer visible; apparently it had been loaded inside.

“Hey, Chief, can you come here a minute?” asked Fazio.

“Here I am. Good morning, gentlemen.”

“Good morning,” said one of the two astronauts.

The other gave him a dirty look over the top of his mask.

“They can’t find the carcass,” said Fazio, flummoxed.

“What do you mean they can’t . . . ?” said Montalbano, upset. “But it was right here!”

“We’ve looked everywhere and haven’t seen anything,” said the more sociable of the two.

“What is this, some kind of practical joke? You wanna play games or something?” the other said menacingly.

“Nobody’s joking here,” Fazio snapped back at the man, who was beginning to get on his nerves. “And watch your tongue.”

The other was about to reply, but thought better of it.

Montalbano stepped down from the veranda and went to examine the spot where the carcass had been.The others followed him.

In the sand were the footprints of five or six different shoes and two parallel tracks from the wheels of a cart.

Meanwhile the two astronauts got back into their van and drove off without saying goodbye.

“They stole it while we were having coffee,” said the inspector. “They loaded it onto a hand-drawn cart.”

“About two miles from here, over near Montereale, there’s about ten shacks with illegal immigrants living in them,” said Fazio. “They’re gonna have a feast tonight. They’re gonna eat horsemeat.”

At that moment they saw their car returning.

“We took everything we could find,” said Galluzzo.

“And what did you find?”

“Three clubs, a piece of rope, eleven cigarette butts of two different brands, and an empty Bic lighter,” Galluzzo replied.

“Let’s do this,” said Montalbano. “You, Gallo, go to the Forensics Lab and give them the clubs and the lighter.You, Galluzzo, take the rope and butts and bring them to my office. Thanks for everything.We’ll meet back up at the station. I’ve got a couple of private phone calls to make.”

Gallo looked doubtful.

“What’s wrong?”

“What am I supposed to ask Forensics to do?”

“To take fingerprints.”

Gallo looked more doubtful than ever.

“And if they ask me what it’s about, what do I say? That we’re investigating the murder of a horse? They’ll throw me out of there on my ass!”

“Tell them there was a brawl with several wounded and we’re trying to identify the assailants.”