Valerio Manfredi: The Ancient Curse

It was after midnight when he became convinced that the shadow he’d seen in the X-rays represented the outline of a knife. The blade of a knife that had penetrated deep into the boy’s body!

He shook his head repeatedly, as if trying to banish an idea that had started to eat away at him, then got up, walked around the room and went to the refrigerator to fetch a glass of water, trying to set his thoughts straight. He’d arrived only three days ago but it felt like he’d been sucked into another world. He was losing control over his emotions and he realized that his usual manner of rationally approaching a find or a research topic was being shot to hell with this crazy whirlwind of events. His anxiety was growing and his sense of reality felt distorted.

He went back to the computer screen to watch the image of the boy that continued to rotate in the virtual space generated by the machine as if he were floating in a timeless limbo.

What could this mean? What was that intrusion doing inside the statue and how could no one have noticed it before now? How had it been inserted, and why? Was there a reason why? Could it be a clue, or a message? If so, who was the message from, the artist or the person who had commissioned it? Unfortunately, as far as he was aware, nothing was known about where the statue came from, or in what context it had been found. His only option was to ask Balestra for permission to perform a metallographic probe, if he wanted to get to the bottom of the question and publish an article with sound documentation. Hopefully the director would be grateful to him for his work on the Rovaio tomb and would allow him to go ahead with the analysis. Just a few milligrams of material would be sufficient to let him know if he was right. He decided he’d ask for authorization explicitly the next day.

There was still one thing left to do. He connected the digital camera he’d used to take the shots of the bone fragments from the tomb, copied two or three of the photos into a file and attached it to an email to Sonia Vitali, along with an explanation.

Hi, Sonia

I’m in Volterra, where the regional NAS director has put me in charge of excavating a third- or fourth-century Etruscan tomb. I’ve just finished and – get ready for this – I have reason to believe it’s the grave of a Phersu! Along with the human bones I found the skeleton of an animal – a wolf, or a dog, I’m guessing – of enormous proportions. Offhand I’d say about a metre ten tall at the withers and more than two metres long from snout to tail. The fangs are six or seven centimetres long. I’m attaching some pictures so you can have a look and would ask you please not to mention this to anyone. If you’re interested in a closer examination, I don’t think Balestra would object to you studying the skeleton and publishing it. I’ll leave you my phone numbers. Let me know what you think.

Fabrizio

He felt calmer now and was about to get up and go to bed when the phone started ringing. In the deep silence of the night, the insistent trilling sounded ominous to him and alarming. An unpleasant sensation of solitude and insecurity surged through him. Logically, it could be Francesca or Massaro or maybe someone from Finanza headquarters, but Fabrizio had a gut feeling it was somebody else. He picked up the receiver and a voice he’d already heard said, ‘Don’t disturb the child’s peace. Get out, if you know what’s good for you.’

‘Listen,’ started Fabrizio, talking as quickly as he could. ‘You’re not scaring me. I…’

But there was no use continuing. His caller had already hung up.

Fine, he thought to himself. He’d ask Reggiani to put a tap on both telephones, the museum number and this one, and on his mobile phone as well. He let himself relish the thought of a face-to-face meeting with this crazy lady who thought it amusing to make such ridiculous threats. She must be calling him because she could see the lights on, or maybe she could even see him sitting in front of his computer screen. If only he had a dog!

To be on the safe side he closed the shutters, turned off the computer, went to the wall, took down the shotgun – an automatic five-round Bernardelli – and loaded it with five cartridges. Then he walked towards the staircase to go up to the bedroom.

The telephone rang again.

He stopped for a moment, with his foot on the step, to collect his thoughts, then turned around and picked up the receiver.

‘Listen, you bitch. If you think-’

‘Fabrizio! It’s Sonia! I’m so sorry, but I thought you’d still be awake!’

Fabrizio let out a long sigh. ‘Oh, it’s me who’s sorry, Sonia. I wasn’t sleeping, it’s simply that…’

‘I’ve just got back from a conference in Padua. I saw your email and I couldn’t resist… So who’s the bitch you thought you were talking to?’

‘Someone I don’t know. Someone who likes to break my balls by calling late at night and-’

‘Listen, I’ve seen the photos – they are incredible! Are you sure about the measurements you sent?’

‘Give or take a centimetre or two.’

‘I just can’t believe what I’m seeing. Do you really think they’ll let me publish it?’

‘I don’t see why not.’

‘Will you talk with Balestra?’

‘Sure. But what do you think it is?’

Sonia fell silent for a few moments. ‘To be utterly frank, I don’t know what to say. I’ve never seen an animal that big in any of the scientific literature. It’s a monster.’

Fabrizio’s voice became apprehensive. ‘A monster? What do you mean by that?’

‘Only that I’ve never seen such a thing. Even now, say, a Caucasian Molosser, which is gigantic, is not that size.’

‘Well, then, what the hell is it? I mean, you’re the expert, so how do you explain it?’

‘Hey, what’s wrong with you? Why are you so edgy? Are you sure I didn’t wake you up? Or did I… interrupt something?’

‘No. Listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude. You’re saying that you don’t know what it is.’

‘It looks like a canid, but I’ve never seen one so enormous. An expert is only an expert on what he’s seen and studied, Fabrizio. You know that better than I do. All I can tell you is that I’ve never heard of such an animal, and neither has anyone else that I know of. I’d hazard a guess that it’s a breed that’s gone extinct and that we have no knowledge of or… a genetic mutation, something of the sort.’

‘Right. That’s a possibility, sure. Listen, try to make it here as soon as you can, and I’ll talk to the director in the meantime.’

‘I can leave tomorrow,’ said Sonia resolutely.

‘No, maybe not tomorrow. Give me a couple of days. I’ll call you as soon as anything comes up.’

There was a moment of silence and in that very instant the howl that Fabrizio had heard the first night rang out loudly. A long, desperate lament that grew in force and intensity, exploding into the blood-curdling scream of a wounded beast. An atrocious wheezing that sounded nearly human.

Fabrizio stiffened as a feeling of sheer terror surged through his body.

Sonia’s voice on the phone was full of anguish. ‘My God… what was that?’

She’d heard it.

‘I don’t know,’ replied Fabrizio mechanically. He then replaced the receiver and picked up the shotgun. It was locked and loaded.

DR LA BELLA put out his cigarette in the ashtray, took his glasses off with a slow, studied gesture and began to clean the lenses with an immaculate handkerchief.

‘Well?’ asked Lieutenant Reggiani in an almost impatient tone.

‘It’s just as I said, my dear Lieutenant, isn’t it? Remember? “If you don’t find the animal I’ll have more maimed bodies on my autopsy table.” And here we are.’