Ivo Ragazzini - The Ghost Of Girolamo Riario

“You mean he was standing on a window sill or on a ledge of the wall?” the researcher demanded for clarification.

“No. It was outside the wall and seemed to hang in the thin air”.

“Maybe it was suspended on an ancient framework that is now no longer in that wall?” commented the researcher.

“I do not know this”.

“I understand you lady. What did he do outside the wall?” continued the researcher.

“Nothing. It just seemed to dance near a window”, replied the woman.

“Which window?”

“It was the third window of the town hall, counting from the right”, replied the woman”.

“What was the ghost like?”

“Grey, a grey shadow and his head was open and split on one side, as if he were missing or they had cut off part of his head”.

“Wow. A good business card for introduce himself to someone. I guess you were at the least surprised lady?”

“Yes, surprised. You said well”.

“Okay lady. Have you seen it again and more?”

“Yes, sometimes he is in the corridor, another time he was in a larger adjoining room”.

“Do you see it when it's dark or there is little light?” the researcher asked more curious.

“No. I always saw it in the evening but never when it's completely dark”.

“All right, lady. What else have you seen about it?”

“I heard him say and moan something”.

“What did he say?”

“I didn't understand, his voice was weak and dimmering, and as well was his image”, explained the woman.

“Okay lady. What else have you seen?”

“Nothing else. That's all”, concluded the woman.

“Thanks for your information ma'am. If necessary, I will ask you more”, replied the researcher as he concluded the interview with the lady and was preparing to interview another witness present in the room.

“How did you manage to see the ghost?” asked the researcher, turning to the other witness who said he also saw it.

“I learned from friends about this presence in the building and went to look for it”.

“Why did you want to look him for?” asked the researcher curiously.

“I was only interested in seeing it”.

“And what have you seen?”

“More or less what the lady saw, but with a few more details”, replied the witness.

“What's more else details have you seen?”

“More than anything else, I heard him say something”, replied the witness.

“What did you hear saying about?”

“He was worried about his lady”.

“Did he speak directly to you?”

“No. Mostly he complained to anyone who could listen to him”, replied the witness.

“He complained about what?”

“Of what they had done to him and he wanted to take revenge against the traitors and conspirators who attacked him”, replied the witness.

“Did he tell you who his lady was?”

“No, but he said he had to rush to defend her because she was in danger in the next room”.

“So he was worried because her wife was in danger in the next room?”

“Yes, he more or less complained about it and demanded revenge for the conspirators who had done all this”, explained the witness.

“Did the ghost tell you what they had done to him?”

“He didn't say this but he knew who the conspirators were and demanded revenge them”, replied the witness.

“Did he also tell you who the hit men and the conspirators were?”

“Yes. And he also knew who were the real perpetrators”.

“Who were they?” asked intrigued the researcher.

“I'm not want to tell you that”.

“Why?”

“It's a long story and I don't think you'd understand me”.

“It is not so, but I respect your will. Anyway, do you have any idea who could be the woman he wanted to defend?” asked curious the researcher.

“Yes. She was Caterina Sforza the ancient lady of Imola and Forli”, replied the witness.

“So who would the ghost be? One of her three husbands, I supposed 3”.

“That ghost was not just anyone of them but Girolamo Riario, first husband of Caterina Sforza and nephew of Pope Sixtus IV 4, who was murdered in that palace 500 years ago by a conspiracy, while Caterina had locked and barricade herself up in the next room and desperately asked for help. And that is a story that has remained unclear and mysterious in many places until today”, the witness replied all in one breath.

The researcher remain slightly surprised for a while by what he had just heard. Then asked:

“But it could have been Jacopo Feo. As far I know, was he also a husband of Caterina Sforza and died in an ambush from a sword blow to the head”.

“No. It was Riario, and he was murdered in that palace. Jacopo Feo was murdered in the street in a place very far from there, halfway down Corso Garibaldi , where the Morattini bridge 5once stood” replied the witness.

“And why then did the ghost have his head smashed in one side?”

“Because someone smashed it down like that”, replied the witness.

“Why would someone do such a thing to him?” asked the researcher.

“You seem a bit naive. There may be many reasons in the world to do things like that to someone”. replied the witness smiling.

“Say them”.

“But I told you it's a long story”.

“Never mind. Recall it back”, the researcher urged him.

“All right. Officially, Riario was murdered towards evening in the nymphs room of that palace by three conspirators he believed to be trusted friends. One of them, while the other two waited outside, entered in the room, that no longer exists with an excuse and stabbed him in the body”.

“After the first stab, Riario fell to the ground and tried to take refuge under a table, but was immediately reached and finished by the other two conspirators, who took and stabbed him to death, while Caterina Sforza had barricaded herself with servants in the next room and cried out for help”.

“After about half an hour, or so, he was badly thrown out from a window by other conspirators, who in the meantime had taken the town hall and his body was torn apart by other insurgents shouting freedom as they dragged him through the square”, the witness reply in one breath.

“Sounds like a bad story”, answer the researcher, thinking about it for a moment. Then trying to guess more or less how things might have gone, he say:

“So, if I understood correctly, it could be that when Riario was thrown out the window, he fall down on his head smashing it in the soil?”

“No. I didn't say that, and I don't think it's true. In fact I believe that Riario fall down on his feet and not upside down on his head”, explained the witness.

“And how would he have gotten is head crashed out ?”

“There are many ways to crash someone's head”, replied the witness.

“So how would it have happened?”

“You need to know a few more facts to understand the whole things”.

“And you know them?”

“Many of them”, replied the witness.

“And how would you know all these things? Did the ghost explain them to you?” asked the researcher with a smile.

“No. I am the son of the son, of the son of the son, from many lives of home-born Forli people, and I have inherited something from them”, replied the witness.

“Come on... how can I believe you...” smiled the researcher again, “are you trying to hide the truth from me?”.

“No”.

“So the ghost must have told you all about it?” the researcher insisted.

“No, he only said a few things. Others happened after his death and maybe he didn't even know them”, explained the witness.

“And you know about them?”

“I already told you: several, yes”.