Teresa stood on her toes to look in that direction, but there were too many people around her.

“Follow him! I’ll get there as soon as I can,” she yelled.

She called for reinforcements and sent out the order that no one was to leave the village. They’d prepared the roadblocks hours ago. She radioed Marini again.

“Have you caught up with him?” she asked.

“Almost. He’s behind the church.”

“Don’t run. You might scare him off. I’m coming.”

The crowds had begun to disperse, thanks to the efforts of Hugo Knauss and his men, and Teresa finally managed to catch up with Marini. Lucas Ebran was walking about ten yards ahead of them. His steps were quick; he was in a rush. He turned to look over his shoulder.

“He’s seen us,” said Teresa.

Ebran started running. Marini sprinted after him and was upon him in seconds, grabbing him by the collar of his coat. Ebran tripped and fell to his knees. He looked delirious. Teresa saw him glancing down at his own abdomen. He had hidden something in the folds of his too-tight coat.

“Superintendent!”

De Carli had arrived, out of breath.

“There’s a child missing,” he said. “He was taken from his stroller when the mother wasn’t looking.”

Teresa looked at Ebran and at the unnatural bulge in his belly. She undid his coat, and for a moment she just stood there, motionless.

“I just found them on the floor, I swear,” said Ebran.

A camera and a purse, but no trace of the child.

-53-

-53-

Teresa woke up screaming and gasping for breath, her neck and the rest of her body stiff. Her diary lay open in front of her, squashed under her cheek. She lifted her head, her heart still drumming in her chest. The muscles in her back spasmed in pain. She’d fallen asleep on her chair. She swallowed with some difficulty, her throat burning, her lips dry. She was desperate for a glass of water.

She looked around in confusion, and it took her a while to figure out where she was; the meeting room of the police headquarters in Travenì was empty, and the lights had been turned down. She recognized Chief Knauss’s hat on the coat rack and Marini’s thick jacket on a hanger next to it.

She looked at her watch in alarm. It was a few minutes past 10 p.m. and she’d been asleep for almost half an hour. Someone had draped her coat over her shoulders.