“Hey, Federì, Dottor Schiavone needs to talk to you.”

Tolotta smiled. “Sure. Anything I can do to help . . .”

“So, this is Deputy Chief Schiavone. He’s here from Aosta police headquarters.”

“I imagine for that nasty business with Cuntrera.”

“And you imagine correctly!” Rocco stepped back under the rushing jet of water.

“I’VE BEEN ASSIGNED TO ACCOMPANY YOU ANYWHERE YOU need to go . . .” said Tolotta, opening the armored gate.

“Right,” Rocco replied. Another hallway. He was starting to get his orientation in that labyrinth of doors and rooms separated by heavy metal gates. “Will you tell me about the day of the brawl?”

“Sure. I was on duty in Wing 3. The one that’s closest to where they found the corpse . . .”

“I saw it in the video. Go on.”

“I heard shouts, then a colleague behind me shouted that they were killing each other. So I unlocked the armored gate and went running out into the courtyard. I rushed toward—”

“Hold on,” the deputy chief interrupted him. “Did you close the gate?”

“Of course. Behind me. Then I ran straight toward the brawl.”

“And you didn’t notice Cuntrera on the ground?”

“No. I didn’t notice him.”

“Were there other people running toward the brawl with you?”

“Naturally, a bunch of inmates and colleagues. When we got there, we pulled them apart and—”

“Yes, I saw the rest in the footage from the closed-circuit security cameras. But tell me, nothing strange happened?”

Tolotta stopped in the middle of the hallway. He thought it over. “No. Nothing strange. Then in the end Abela and Marini started shouting and we found Cuntrera’s corpse. In the corner. About thirty feet from the gate I was guarding.”

“Do you mind coming with me to my guest quarters? I want to show you something . . .”

ROCCO TURNED ON THE TELEVISION SET. HE RAN THE RECORDING from one of the closed-circuit security cameras. “This is during the heat of the brawl, you see?”

Agostino Lumi, Erik, and the Nigerian were beating the Tunisians bloody. Other convicts were hurrying over. Then the guards arrived.

“There, that’s you!” And he pointed to Tolotta as he ran toward the brawl. He froze the picture. “Right back here, on the right of the screen, from where you appeared, in this area, Cuntrera is dying.”

Tolotta nodded.

“And you didn’t notice him when you passed by?”

“No, I told you. I didn’t notice him. You see, along with me there are two other inmates hurrying along, and this other guard here—he’s named Guidi, I think. They ran right in front of me and maybe that kept me from seeing that there was a man on the ground.”

“Can you tell me why this corner isn’t covered by security cameras?”

Tolotta smiled. “That’s not right, actually. There is a security video camera, right here, you see it?” And he placed his finger on the screen, right on top of a huge lamppost. “Right on this lamppost . . . it covers that corner and the gate to Wing 3. The door I just ran out of.”