Antonio Tabucchi - The Missing Head of Damasceno Monteiro

“Hullo,” said Firmino, “I see that you are being cagey.”

The Editor chuckled. “Its a question of strategy,” he said.

“I don’t see the point,” said Firmino.

“Listen here Firmino,” explained the Editor, “you claim that Manolo the Gypsy gave the police an exact description of the T-shirt, but in their official communiqué the police have said that the body was naked from the waist up.”

“Exactly,” said Firmino impatiently, “and so?”

“And so there must be a reason,” insisted the Editor, “and we won’t be the ones to contradict the police. I think it better for us to say that we’ve heard rumors that the corpse was wearing a T-shirt printed with the words Stones of Portugal, imagine if Manolo invented the whole thing.”

“But we’ll lose the scoop if we don’t say that the police kept quiet about the T-shirt,” protested Firmino.

“There must be a reason for that,” repeated the Editor, “and it would be great if you managed to find out.”

Firmino could scarcely hold his tongue. What grandiose notions came into the Editor’s head! The police wouldn’t even receive him, imagine them answering questions from a journalist.

“And what the hell would you do?” asked Firmino.

“Rack your brains,” said the Editor, “you’re young and have plenty of imagination.”

“Who is the examining magistrate on the case?” asked Firmino.

“Dr. Quartim, as you know, but you won’t get a thing from him because all his information comes from the police.”

“It looks like a real vicious circle,” commented Firmino.

“Rack your brains,” repeated the Editor, “it's precisely to find out these things that I’ve sent you to Oporto.”

Firmino left the booth streaming with sweat. Now he felt more irritable than ever. He made for the little fountain in the square and bathed his face. “Damn it,” he thought, “what next?” There was a bus stop at the corner. Firmino managed to jump aboard a bus that took him into the center of town. He was rather pleased with himself because he now knew the chief landmarks in a city which had at first seemed hostile. He asked the driver to drop him off when they came to some shopping center. At the driver's signal he got off, and only then realized that he had not even paid his fare. He entered the shopping center, a colossal area which some intelligent architect, a rare species nowadays, had created out of many old buildings without ruining their façades. Oporto was a well-organized city: in the entrance, a spacious foyer with numerous escalators leading to the basement or to the upper floors, was a counter from behind which a pretty girl in blue was distributing leaflets indicating all the shops in the center and exactly where to find them. Firmino studied this leaflet and set off resolutely for corridor B on the first floor. The shop was called “T-shirt International.” It was full of mirrors and had cubicles for changing and shelves overflowing with goods. Several youths were there trying on T-shirts and checking themselves out in the mirror. Firmino applied to the assistant, a girl with long fair hair.

“I’d like a T-shirt,” he said, “a particular T-shirt.”

“We cater for all tastes sir,” replied the girl.

“Made in Portugal?” asked Firmino.

“Both here and abroad,” replied the girl, “we import from France, Italy, England and especially the United States.”

“Fine,” said Firmino, “the color is probably blue, but it might come in other colors, the important thing is the words on it.”

“What are they?” she asked.

“Stones of Portugal,” said Firmino.

The girl looked thoughtful for a moment. She twisted her mouth slightly as if the words meant nothing to her, opened a large typewritten catalogue and ran her index finger down the lists of names.

“I’m sorry sir,” she said, “we don’t carry that line.”

“All the same,” said Firmino, “I’ve seen it, I passed a chap in the street who was wearing one.”

The girl did some more thinking.

“Perhaps it’s an advertisement,” she suggested, “we don’t carry publicity T-shirts, only ones on the open market.”

Firmino did some thinking too. Publicity. Maybe it was a publicity stunt.

“Yes,” he said, “but an advertisement for what, what do you think Stones of Portugal could mean?”

“Well,” said the girl, “it could be a new rock group that’s given a concert, when there’s a concert they usually sell advertising T-shirts at the entrance, why not try a record shop? They sell T-shirts along with the records.”

Firmino said thank you and looked in the leaflet for the record shop. Classical music or modern music? Naturally he opted for modern music. It was in the same corridor. The youth at the counter had a headset on and was listening in an enraptured way. Firmino waited patiently until he came out of his trance.

“Do you know a group called Stones of Portugal?” he asked.

The assistant looked at him and assumed a thoughtful air. “I don’t think so,” he replied, “is it a new group?”

“Could be,” said Firmino.

“Very new?”

“Could be.”

“We’re pretty up to date with new events,” the youth assured him, “and the most recent groups are the Novos Ricos and the Lisbon Ravens, but the group you mention frankly doesn’t ring a bell, though it could be an amateur group, of course.”

“Do you think an amateur group would be able to produce publicity T-shirts?” asked Firmino, fast losing hope.

“Not on your life,” replied the assistant, “most times even the pro’s can’t afford it, we live in Portugal you know, not in the United States.”

Firmino thanked him and left. It was nearly two in the afternoon. He wasn’t in the mood to look for a restaurant. Maybe he’d find a bite to eat at Dona Rosa’s. Just as long as the plat du jour wasn’t tripe.

NO, DONA ROSA’S plat du jour that day was rojoes à la mode de Minho . Perhaps it was not a dish particularly suited to the heat of Oporto, but Firmino was crazy about those hunks of pork fillet sautéed with potatoes.

There he was in the dining-room for the first time since his arrival at the pension. Three tables were occupied. Dona Rosa came in and wanted to introduce him to the other guests, she was determined on it. Firmino followed. The first, one Senhor Paulo, was a man of about fifty, who imported meat into the Setabal district. He was bald and robust. The second, Signor Bianchi, was an Italian who spoke no Portuguese but expressed himself in halting French. He owned a firm which bought boletus mushrooms, both fresh and dried, for export to Italy, because the Portuguese cared very little about mushrooms. He declared with a smile that trade was flourishing and that he hoped that the Portuguese would continue to care very little about boletus mushrooms. Finally there was a couple from Aveiro who were celebrating their silver wedding anniversary and making a second honeymoon of it. Firmino wondered why they had chosen this pension.

Dona Rosa then told him that the Editor had been trying to reach him and wanted him to call back urgently. Firmino decided to keep the Editor waiting for a while, otherwise all those goodies doing the rounds of the table would get cold. He ate slowly and with relish, because the pork was absolutely exquisite. He ordered coffee and only when he had drunk it did he resign himself to calling up the paper.

The telephone was in the lounge, for the bedrooms only had house phones connected with the reception desk. Firmino put in his money and dialed. The Editor was out. Senhora Odette put him through to Senhor Silva, whom Firmino immediately called Huppert, to put him in a good mood. Silva was solicitous and paternal.