‘No, no, here she comes now.’ Bordelli saw a wraith flutter in the darkness of the room behind them, but at first glance she seemed not to advance an inch. It was Mamma. She took a very long time to reach the door. She was small, tiny, all bones. She stood as though hung from her neck, her voice almost inaudible.
‘Who’s here?’ she said. There was a slight whistle in her voice.
‘This gentleman, here, wanted to know about the villa next door,’ the daughter said.
‘Your daughter tells me you hear noises there,’ said Bordelli.
‘Where should I look?’ the mother asked.
‘She’s blind,’ the daughter explained. Bordelli took another step forward.
‘I’m here, signora. Pleased to meet you.’ The mother extended a tiny, skeletal hand. Bordelli held those little bones for only a moment, fearing he might break them. The old woman took three small, futile steps across a single tile, then regained her breath after that exhausting greeting.
‘What is it you wanted to know?’ she said, mouth quivering. Bordelli looked her straight in the eye. Her eyeballs were covered by white veils veined with capillaries.
‘Your daughter was telling me you hear noises next door,’ he said.
The old woman made a vague gesture, which must have corresponded to some expression of exuberance in her younger days.
‘Oh, yes, yes. Many sounds, many, many sounds.’
‘What sort of sounds, signora?’
‘Many sounds. Many, many, many, many …’
‘Mamma, do you understand? The gentleman wants to know what kind of sounds … Stop acting senile.’ Bordelli wondered how he might extricate himself. His hand in his pocket fidgeted with his car keys. The transparent old woman joined her hands together and then pulled them tightly against her breast.
‘At night, mostly. Many, many …’
‘Not when, Mamma. The gentleman would like to know what sort of sounds.’
‘Oh … all right …’
‘Tell him about the screams you heard last February.’
Bordelli pretended to be keenly interested.
‘What kind of screams?’ the daughter persisted, jabbing her mother in the shoulder with her fingertips.
‘Come on, Mamma, the gentleman is waiting.’
‘Yes, yes … terrible screams, terrible, terrible screams … like animals …’
The daughter intervened.
‘But they weren’t animals, I’m sure of that!’ she said very seriously, opening her eyes wide to emphasise the point. Meanwhile her mother seemed to have woken up and was eager to speak.
‘I have a cousin who’s mad, and I used to go and see him until ’46,’ she said.
The daughter gave a start at the sound of these words, taking such offence that she almost began to cry. She started slapping her mother lightly on the hands.
‘Why did you say that, Mamma? Why did you say that now? Eh? Did you have to go and say that? Eh?’
‘Let me speak … You see, sir, I so hate my sister … she drove my grandson mad.’ The daughter clenched her dentures, growled, and stalked away as if she would never return. The mother continued speaking calmly.
‘The only other place I ever heard such screams was in the madhouse. Now do you understand? Are you still here, sir?’
‘I’m here.’
The daughter reappeared and stood behind her mother. She looked a bit calmer. Bordelli wanted only to run away.
‘I’m so pleased to have met you both,’ he said, holding out his hand. The mother started waving her hands in the air.
‘Don’t you want to hear about the shots?’ she said.
‘What shots?’
‘They are so loud, so so loud, that they wake me up.’
‘Pistol shots?’
‘So, so loud.’
‘Mamma! You don’t understand! The man wants to know if they were pistol shots.’
‘Ah, that’s so nice of him …’
‘No, Mamma, you don’t understand …’
‘… so, so nice.’
‘Mamma!’ the daughter shouted. Bordelli felt he should intervene, and made a slight bow towards the daughter.
‘Please don’t disturb your mother any further, I beg you. I’ve understood everything perfectly, thank you. Thank you ever so much. Goodbye.’
The mother took two tiny steps forward.
‘Do come see us some time, sir, we’re always here, all alone,’ she said.
‘Mamma, why do you say that? Why?’
‘Because it’s true,’ the mother whimpered. Bordelli said goodbye again, loudly, so they would hear, and took to his heels. Behind him the argument continued. The daughter was furious.
‘Did you really have to go and say that? Eh? Why did you say that? Tell me why!’ she kept saying, enraged.
The mother wasn’t listening to her.