“Oh, go fuck yourself!” Vittorio hissed through his teeth. “But I can’t see a thing with these electric lights!” he protested, heading over to the chair to dry off the sweat.

“So now it’s the electric lights, and then the balls are deflated, and the racket needs tightening! You want the truth, Vittò? You don’t have a chance against me! . . . Your father has a lot to learn!” Dario and Carlo laughed loudly, in unison.

“Buonasera!” Vittorio looked up. Behind the fence around the court were two women. Barbara and Tatiana.

“Ciao, Barbara . . . buonasera . . .” Vittorio replied.

“Afterward, do you have two minutes for me?” asked the bookseller.

“If you wait five minutes, I’ll finish him off and you can have him for the rest of the evening!” Dario shouted to her as he opened a bottle of mineral water.

“Umpire, time!” Vittorio called, and then went over to the two ladies.

“What’s going on?”

“Sorry, we went to the bank, but it was already closed. So Federica told us that we could find you here . . . and actually . . .” Here she cupped her hand in front of her mouth and shouted to Carlo: “Your mother said that she needs the car tonight and can’t let you borrow it!”

From high atop his chair, Carlo grimaced in annoyance. “Then how am I supposed to go to Pescara? Papà, will you lend me yours?”

“The volley was out, right? You’ve just answered your own question!” The teller from the savings bank turned back to Barbara and Tatiana.

“Listen, there’s a problem. Corrado has been missing for two days now . . .”

“What do you mean, missing?”

“Nobody knows what’s become of him,” said Tatiana. “He’s not home, his cell phone is switched off, and they found his car near the bus parking area, in Pescara.”

“Oh, fuck . . .”

“Listen, Vittorio, by any chance, did Corrado come to the bank recently? Did he make any large withdrawals . . .”

The teller looked at Barbara. Then Tatiana. She had dark circles under her eyes. “Yes, he came in . . .” he replied. “Four days ago.” An electric shock writhed under the Russian woman’s skin. “But he made a deposit. Two checks.” He thought he could see the young woman deflate a little.

“No withdrawals?”

“No. Why?”

“Because if he had withdrawn cash, it might have meant that he’d gone on the run to hide out, who knows where . . .”

“On the run? To hide out? What on earth are you talking about?”

“It was just a supposition,” Barbara replied.

“No. I’m sorry. Tomorrow morning I can check and see whether he used an ATM anywhere.”

“Would you do me that favor?”

“Certainly, glad to. Of course, I never said a thing to you.”

“Absolutely not.”

“But has something happened?”

“We don’t know, Vittorio. He’s been strange for days, now. And he just left, dropping everything, without so much as a word.”