Spoken like a true criminalist, though under these circumstances Rhyme would not have objected to a bolder conclusion, like: Sì, it was his shoes and his car.

Rossi asked the location of the restaurant exactly and Ercole answered. Rossi walked to a map and marked it. He said, “There are not bus routes there. So, following dinner, the colleague, or someone else, would have driven Maziq to the bus stop. The Composer followed.”

Ercole explained that the vehicle had driven past the restaurant and slowed, probably as he saw Maziq and his colleague dining outside. He then drove around the corner, parked and spied on them. “I took samples of the dirt and grass from where he stood and sat.” He nodded down at the bags and handed them to Beatrice, who took them in her gloved hands.

They had a brief conversation in Italian, a small argument clearly, which ended with Beatrice shaking her head and Ercole grimacing. She stepped into the lab.

Speaking through the branches, his face only partly visible, Ercole continued, “And from the footprints, it seems that he walked to the bushes to get a good look at the restaurant. I am hoping he pushed them aside to see Maziq.”

Rossi pulled out his phone. “I will call an officer guarding Ali Maziq. We perhaps can find if what you learned helps out his memory.” He placed the call and, head down, had a conversation.

Gesturing to the large, bushy branch Ercole held in front of him, Spiro said, “Do something with that, Forestry Officer. It is as if I am speaking to a tree.”

“Of course, Procuratore.” He took it into the lab and returned with some notes that, he explained, Beatrice had given him. Apparently concerned that his handwriting was not in vogue, here in the Questura, Ercole dictated; Sachs wrote.

Vantage Point Across Road from Ristorante San Giancarlo, 13km from D’Abruzzo

• —Ali Maziq, Composer kidnap victim, met with colleague, 1 hour prior to kidnapping.
• —Companion:
  • —ID unknown.
  • —Italian most likely. Not from Campania. Large. Dark-complexioned. Black hair. Wearing dark suit, dusty. Smoked foul cigarettes. Described as surly.
• —English was spoken. But they tried not to speak in front of the waitress.
  • —Reference to Trenitalia journey, six hours.
• —Dark car (black, blue) drove past at some point. Slowed, possibly to examine Maziq and Companion.
• —Shoe prints at vantage point: Converse Cons, Size 45, same as at other scenes.
• —Michelin 205/55R16 91H tread marks found in vantage point.
• —Trace recovered at vantage point.
  • —Presently being analyzed.
• —Branches recovered at vantage point.
  • —Presently being examined for trace and fingerprints.

Rossi disconnected his call and looked over the chart. His face bore a wry smile. “No, Signor Maziq still remembers nothing of the day or so before the kidnapping. Or claims he doesn’t. But I think perhaps it is less due to the Composer’s drugs and the suffocation than to a typical criminal’s amnesia.”

“How’s that?” Rhyme asked.

“As I mentioned, leaving a refugee camp briefly is not considered a serious offense. But leaving the country of first landfall is. And that’s what Maziq was trying to do, it appears.”