Yes, it was true, the telephone calls had been a little animated because of that problem. Yes, it was true that he’d gone to Gaglione’s place to sort things out in person, because there are some things it’s best not to deal with over the phone. The two had talked things over and had made peace, and Gaglione, as a sign of reconciliation, had gifted Cardace about fifteen pills of a new version of Ecstasy that he himself had received only a few days earlier. They had parted amicably. As he went on his way, Cardace had run into an acquaintance named Sabino – he didn’t know his surname – and they had gone for a coffee together.

Then he had returned home and soon afterwards had gone out again. The policeman had tracked him down outside a bar where he’d been hanging out with some friends (maybe customers, I thought) and had taken him to Headquarters. There they had given him a gunshot residue test and had arrested him for the Ecstasy pills they’d found on him. The same ones that Gaglione had given him. Since then he had been in prison.73

“Why did you go to Gaglione’s apartment? Why didn’t you meet him outside?”

“He was paranoid at the time. He was scared of going out.”

“Why?”

“Among the various things Mino did was security. For discos, nightclubs, concerts. A few days before – maybe about ten days, I don’t know exactly – he’d worked at a disco called Chilometro Zero. Do you know it?”

I nodded vaguely. I knew there was a place of that name, but nothing else.

“Anyway, there was a fight. Two drunk guys had been pestering some girls and when one of the guys who was with these girls stood in their way they beat him up. That caused the usual ruckus and security intervened, including Mino. The two drunks were thrown out, but one of them wouldn’t calm down. He kept screaming, challenging everyone. Mino went up to him and told him to stop and get out, and the guy tried to headbutt him. That pissed Mino off and he gave him a good beating, leaving him on the ground. In the following days it turned out that the guy belonged to a major family. The kind you don’t want to mess with. Apparently the father of the boy was a very dangerous man.”

“And so Gaglione was worried about possible reprisals?”

“Yes, he was very worried. He went out only if it was absolutely necessary, and was even thinking of leaving Bari for a while. Maybe he’d even tried to get in touch with those people, to apologize and get the matter closed.”

“Who was the guy he beat up? What family did he belong to?”

“I don’t know. Gaglione didn’t tell me.”