‘Jesus bloody Christ, is that any way to act?! That scrape’s going to cost me a good two hundred thousand! The least they could have done is tell me!’
Bordelli threw up his hands.
‘Well, we’ll be off now,’ he said, ready to flee. For his part Piras had taken a step forward and was staring at Salvetti, who was gesticulating and shaking his head as he approached. The Milanese seemed angry and was talking to himself.
‘Is that any way to act? La madonna! They could have told me at least, dammit! Is that any way to act?’
Piras waited until Salvetti was beside him, and then asked:
‘Who are you talking about?’
Bordelli wasn’t expecting this sort of question. It actually seemed a bit intrusive on Piras’s part. But the Sardinian looked so serious that the inspector let him continue. Salvetti had stopped and was scratching his cheek and staring into space.
‘What pricks!’ he added.
Piras persisted.
‘Who are you talking about?’ he asked, eyes fixed on Salvetti.
‘Who? Why, those wretched Morozzi brothers, damn it all!’
Bordelli came away from the gate and back into the garden.
‘The Morozzi brothers?’ he said.
Salvetti was fuming.
‘I’ll never let them borrow it again, so help me God!’ he said, shaking his hands wildly in the air.
‘I’m sorry, but when did you lend them your car?’ Bordelli asked. Salvetti looked at him as if he’d just realised he was there.
‘What did you say?’
‘Your car … when did you lend it to the Morozzis?’
‘How should I know! They wanted to go for a drive in the hills, the show-offs! So much for trusting your friends!.. Two hundred thousand that scrape’s going to cost me! The cunts! Have you any idea how much a car like that costs?’
Piras gestured towards the garage, where one could still hear the sounds of the two little boys pretending they were driving.
‘Could I see it?’ he asked. Salvetti ignored him and walked in the direction of his wife, cupping his hands round his mouth.
‘Giovannaaaa! The Morozzis have scratched the caaaaar!’ he yelled.
‘Whaaaaat?’ she shouted back.
‘The caaaar! They scraaaaatched it! The Morozziiiiis diiiid!’
The wife then yelled at the top of her lungs.
‘Yes, I know, they waaaaashed it! They’re soooo sweeeeet!’ and she started waving her arm again. The husband was hopping from one foot to the other.
‘What did you saaayyy?’ he yelled.
‘They’re sooo sweeeeet!’
‘It’s scraaaaatched!’
Signora Giovanna gestured with her hand as if to say she couldn’t understand. Meanwhile Piras had gone into the garage and was already on his way back. He came up behind Salvetti.
‘Signor Salvetti, when, exactly, did you lend your car to the Morozzis?’
‘What? What’s my car got to do with any of this?’
Bordelli was right there beside him.
‘Please try to remember; it could be very important,’ he said in a serious tone.
‘Oh, really?’ Salvetti looked first at one, then the other, still in the grips of his tantrum. ‘They wanted to go for a drive through the hills. I think it was last Friday.’
Piras butted in.
‘Did you lend it to them Friday morning?’
‘Yes … I mean, no. I must have given it to them Thursday afternoon; that nincompoop Giulio came by to pick it up.’
‘Are you sure it was Thursday? Think it over carefully.’
‘Yes, yes, of course it was Thursday … because that morning we went early to the beach, whereas they normally don’t go out until ten, the bums. And so I let them take it the day before. A fine way to behave, bloody hell. They scrape your car and then don’t tell you! Neither of them, the pricks!’
‘It’s a pretty nasty scrape, Inspector,’ Piras commented. ‘Looks like they clipped a tree.’
By this point Salvetti was out of control, stamping his feet and cursing between clenched teeth.
‘Never mind washing it, they shouldn’t have scratched it. Bloody hell. The little boors!’
Bordelli tried to summon forth the least irritating tone possible.
‘Oh, so they washed it?’ he asked.
‘Yeah, they washed it! To thank me for the favour. Bloody hell!’
Signora Giovanna couldn’t understand what was going on. She’d been waving for the last fifteen minutes, and still nobody had left. Finally she got up and started coming towards the three men with her fashion-model walk, legs popping out of her beach cover with each step. Piras’s eyes were glued to her. She realised this and pretended not to notice, but did so in such an obvious way that Salvetti raised his eyes to the heavens and sighed. Bordelli was fed up with the whole situation.
‘We have to go, Signor Salvetti, thank you ever so much,’ he said, grabbing Piras by the arm and dragging him away. The Sardinian, however, managed to turn round one last time to look at Signora Giovanna’s legs and smile.
When they got into the broiling Volkswagen, Bordelli turned to Piras.