“Of course I remember. By the way, I chanced upon a corpse. Or rather, they haven’t found the corpse yet, but we know for sure the man is dead.”

“Who?”

“Corrado Pizzuti. The one who was missing.”

“Then I was right about that.”

“All right, so tell me all about it!”

“A couple of weeks ago there was a prison escape. From the infirmary of Velletri prison. At the time, I didn’t give it much thought. But then I looked back on it, connecting it back to Pizzuti . . .”

“Who is it?”

“Enzo Baiocchi!”

Rocco hung up the phone without saying good-bye to his old friend from Rome. He rummaged anxiously through D’Intino and Deruta’s papers. All colored like so many rainbows, they looked like a class project done by a third-grade pupil. He found his officers’ last note. Corrado Pizzuti had stayed at the Hotel Piedimonte, in Pont-Saint-Martin, on the evening of May 9!

He turned pale.

“Why didn’t I read them before this, asshole that I am!” And he slapped his forehead with an open hand. Caterina watched him, the deputy chief’s eyes were glistening. He blinked his eyes rapidly, as if an electric shock were darting through his body.

“Listen, Caterina, I’m going to have to be away for a while, I need to go to Rome and—”

“No!” the deputy inspector protested. “You’ve just driven all the way to Abruzzo and back, you have dark circles under your eyes. Do you think you can leave me here with the dog to stand guard over D’Intino and Deruta? You have Antonio for that. And Italo, too.”

“Are you trying to keep me from—”

“I’m not trying to keep you from anything. I’m coming with you, and I’ll do half of the driving. But only if you explain to me just what’s going on.”

“The murder at my house. We may have a name to go with it.”

“All the more reason, I’m a cop, and I’m working on that case.”

“Caterina, I—”

“This isn’t a suggestion. It’s an order!”

Rocco smiled. “And since when does a deputy inspector give orders to a deputy chief?”

“Since the deputy chief in question has started thinking like a teenager high on Ecstasy!”

“You can’t come in uniform.”

“I have a change of clothes in my office!” And she shot out the door.

Rocco ran to the desk. He took the keys to the car. “Lupa!” The puppy came over to him. “Listen to me. Be a good girl with Caterina!” And he hurried out of the office.