Valerio Manfredi - The Ancient Curse

‘Nice gun,’ observed Reggiani, looking over at the Bernar-delli. ‘Yeah, thanks. I don’t mind if I do,’ he added, dropping into a chair.

Fabrizio took two gulps, then drew a long breath. ‘Flesh and blood? I don’t know. Yeah, of course. But if you’d seen what I saw…’

Reggiani took a sip himself, then looked straight into Fabrizio’s eyes.

‘Tell me what you saw. From the beginning to the end,’ he said.

Fabrizio took another swallow. Some colour was coming back to his face and his hands weren’t trembling nearly as much.

‘First of all, what is it?’

Fabrizio took another sip.

‘Hey, take it easy with that stuff. It’s not Coca-Cola.’

Fabrizio set the empty glass on the table and suddenly thought of the virtual reconstruction that Sonia had done of the skull taken from the skeleton buried with the Phersu.

What is it?’ he repeated. ‘I… I don’t know. All I can say is that my colleague showed me a computer-generated image of the animal in the Rovaio tomb and… Listen, you won’t believe this, but it looked exactly like this thing.’

‘But what is it?’ insisted Reggiani. ‘A dog? A wolf? A panther? It has to be something recognizable, damn it.’

‘Yeah, well, it does look like a dog or a wolf. Only its proportions are humongous and it’s capable of making huge leaps and… oh, shit, I don’t know. It just doesn’t make sense!’

‘OK, let it go,’ said the officer. ‘The important thing is, it’s not a ghost. Those boys up in the heli were close to pumping it full of lead… I could hear that Browning sing over the radio.’

The transmitter he had attached to his epaulette suddenly crackled with Massaro’s voice. ‘Sir?’

‘What is it?’

‘The public prosecutor is here.’

‘I’m coming.’

Reggiani put on his cap and gloves and went to the door. ‘I’ll be right back,’ he said. ‘I just need long enough to tell him to fuck off if he starts breaking my balls.’

He stopped outside the door, lit a cigarette, took a long drag and then walked to the site where a couple of agents were still taking measurements and collecting evidence.

‘Listen, Reggiani,’ began the public prosecutor in a shrill voice.

Reggiani tossed his cigarette stub to one side, raised his hand to his visor and said, ‘Yes, sir.’

‘This is the third body-’

Oh, so he can count to three, thought Reggiani.

‘And we’re no further along than when we started. It’s just an animal, for God’s sake.’

‘It’s not just an animal, sir,’ replied Reggiani, swallowing hard. ‘It’s a bloody monster we’re dealing with here. It’s some kind of dog or wolf as big as a lion, with fangs seven centimetres long, that probably weighs over a hundred kilos and runs so fast that my helicopter nearly crashed into that mountain down there trying to keep up with it. A monster. And let me tell you, my guys were this close from taking it out. The search is still under way, with men and dogs. We’re giving it all we have. No one’s standing around scratching his balls.’

‘Lieutenant!’

‘If you’ll excuse my saying so, sir.’

Massaro approached with the victim’s wallet.

‘Who is he?’ asked Reggiani.

‘No ID.’

‘Have you taken his prints?’

‘Of course. I’ve already sent in the photos to headquarters to see if anyone has a file on him. Haven’t got an answer yet.’ He pointed to the mobile phone sitting on the bonnet of his car, connected to a laptop. They stopped a moment to watch the steady flow of forensic data filling the screen.

The public prosecutor turned to Reggiani again. ‘Just what do you intend to do now?’

‘We have to find out where the thing’s den is. The heli is in contact with the men on the ground. They’ll succeed in tracing this animal, I’m sure of it. They’ve seen it, for God’s sake, and they’ve shot at it. They’ll have to fix the exact point…’

Massaro approached them. ‘We have a match, sir.’

Reggiani walked over to the computer and saw the front and side mugshots of the victim. At the bottom of the screen was a white band with the man’s name and record: Cosimo Santocchi, son of Amedeo. Unemployed, no permanent residence, born in Volterra on 15/4/1940. Previous arrests: petty larceny, dealing small quantities of drugs.

‘At least this one doesn’t look like another tomb robber,’ commented Reggiani.

‘Maybe not,’ replied Massaro, ‘but you never know.’

‘Right… So the fingerprints match up as well?’

‘Yes,’ replied the sergeant. ‘Look.’ He inserted a gelatin slide into a separate unit connected to the computer and the prints were instantly read and compared to those on the record. ‘Perfect match.’

‘I can see that,’ Reggiani nodded. ‘Analyse the soil on the soles of his shoes and see if there’s any trace of that yellow clay from the Rovaio area. I wouldn’t be surprised if he took part in that little picnic as well.’

‘Right away, sir.’

‘I’ll be leaving, then,’ said Reggiani, addressing the public prosecutor. ‘I have to finish my conversation with Dr Castellani. He was a witness to the killing. I’ll catch up with you later.’

‘Yes, yes, go on. We still have quite a lot to do here.’

Reggiani started walking back to the house. He raised his eyes to the sky before he went in and could see clouds gathering.

Fabrizio was still sitting at the table and was scribbling on a notepad. Alongside was the printout of Sonia’s virtual reconstruction.

‘Is that it?’ asked Reggiani.

‘Yes, and look. It’s very similar to the animal I saw. Identical, really. A little unnerving, wouldn’t you say? This virtual reconstruction is at least 90 per cent true to an animal that died either of suffocation or a heart attack about twenty-four centuries ago. It is so singular that we’ve found no match for it, at least for the time being. No match, except for the beast that struck again here, which is practically a photocopy of this ancient creature and which materialized the night that the tomb was opened.’

Reggiani shrugged. ‘Coincidence. What else? Ghosts – even animal ghosts – don’t go around mauling people. And in my mind, an animal that kills can be killed. We have to find the den, that’s all, and fill it with lead. You’ll see that that will solve our problems.’

‘There’s something else,’ said Fabrizio. ‘She called again.’

‘That voice on the phone?’

‘Right. Ten minutes before this whole disaster happened. I tried to keep her on the line so the call could be traced, but she hung up immediately.’

‘What did she say?’

‘She was yelling. “I told you to leave the boy in peace! I warned you.” Her tone was very threatening, very aggressive. That’s all she said. I realized that she had to be somehow looking at my computer screen, and that meant she had to be somewhere close by, or maybe was using binoculars. So I ran out to search the place. That’s when I heard the growling and then the howl of that beast. Christ, I swear it made my blood run cold. I ran back to the house, but then from my window I saw those bicycle lights travelling down the state road and I knew I had to warn the guy. That’s when I called you on my mobile. But it was too late… You know better than I do what happened then.’

‘You know, they may have managed to trace the call. The equipment they’re using is very sophisticated. Ill let you know tomorrow if there’s a lead. Now try to get some sleep. I’ll put two guardian angels outside your door. I should already have thought of that. These two are quick off the mark, you-’

‘No, really, it doesn’t matter. I can take care of myself, you’ve seen that.’