General Benini rose from his seat, shook David's hand and said, "You'll get all the help we can give you. Remember, this conversation never took place."
David gave the called-for standard reply, "What conversation?" and left the room.
David took the fast train from Rome to Bologna. He was greeted by the head of the local AISI office, Julietta Pilati. The tall woman looked more like a Scandinavian movie star than a member of the Italian security service — nothing for him to complain about, David thought. She was very direct, probably after receiving orders from General Benini, "Would you like to freshen up or go straight to the sites of the terrorist attacks?"
"First, I would like to see the Basilica San Petronio, because I believe this is the only direct link to Islamic terrorists."
She solemnly said, "Well, you cannot miss the two other sites as they are very close to the basilica." She raised her hand to summon the police car that was parked nearby. "Mr. Avivi, get in the back seat, please. It's just a short drive from the railway station to the basilica." David nodded, entered the car and placed his small trolley suitcase on the backseat next to him.
As the police car drove down Via Dell'Indipendenza and turned into Via Francesco Rizzoli, David saw the huge pile of rubble where the dui tori had stood for centuries until they were brought down by the terrorist bomb. Julietta turned her head to the backseat and said, "The city council is debating whether to reconstruct the towers that are the landmark of Bologna or build a modern high-rise with a hundred apartments. Some council members have even proposed to leave the rubble in its place as a reminder of vandalism perpetrated by modern savages."
David shrugged, after all it was none of his business, "I am sure that whatever they decide will raise a strong opposition and there will be many people against the decision. This is always the case with such matters."
The police car entered Piazza Maggiore and pulled to a stop at the foot of the wide stairs leading to the basilica's entrance. One of the policemen on duty, gave a fancy salute to the head of the AISI office, but the other one tried to impress her with his diligence and instructed her to open her bag for inspection. She complied without a word, but the look she gave him clearly showed that she was not happy with his behavior. David, who knew a lot about human nature, suppressed a smile. He reckoned that she would be vindictive, and that this policeman will soon find himself on the night shift in some crime-ridden area.
She led him to a small enclave that was covered by a large screen. She pulled the screen to one side, and pointed, "Mr. Avivi, look at the desecrated mural. The restoration experts from the Vatican reckon that it would take at least a year to restore the mural. Meanwhile, they will reconstruct the image of the mural on screen like this one and place it over the original mural. They will do the restoration work behind the screen, so visitors to the basilica will be able to easily visualize what the original looked like."
David replied, somewhat cynically, "I am sure that the publicity the basilica received after the defilement of the mural, will make it the number one tourist attraction in the city. It will serve as a constant reminder that the barbarians are once again at the gates. It will give a strong rise in popularity to the political factions that oppose Muslims and immigrants. Thus, it may achieve the opposite of what the terrorists want."
Julietta looked at him appreciatively, "I hadn't thought of that. You may be right about this. Let me show you the photographic equipment that was left at this site. We believe that it was used to smuggle the spray paint and glue into the basilica. The policemen who were on duty at the time of the attack could only vaguely recall that an attractive woman entered the basilica with a large bag full of photographic equipment. We plan to try hypnosis to refresh their memory and get a description of the woman. So far, all they gave us were conflicting reports about her age, clothes, hair color and height. Quite frustrating."
David asked, "Don't you have surveillance and security cameras installed near these tourist attractions?"
"I am ashamed to say that they have been in disrepair." She didn't want to admit that the contractor who was paid for installing the cameras had substituted real cameras for plastic look-alikes that recorded nothing. It was part of a scheme between a local Mafia gang and a corrupt city-councilman.
David saw her hesitation and gathered that there was more to her lame excuse. He said, "Can we go to the site of the third attack?"
"The anatomical theater is nearby." They exited the basilica and turned right and walked the short distance to the Palazzo dell Archiginnasio. David was impressed by the old building and the arcaded courtyard. He followed Julietta up the stairs to the second floor, through the corridor that was completely covered by the paintings of the shields of rich and noble families from all over Europe. He was even more impressed by Julietta's lithe figure as she climbed the steps ahead of him.
She entered the anatomical theater. "This has been fully restored, except that we had to replace some of the original statues that decorated the walls. The damage was not excessive — probably only a small charge was used here to create a diversion. You can still smell the odor of the explosives — it has permeated the wood panels. I am told by the experts that it will probably persist for quite a while."
David sniffed the air, "I think that it was an improvised explosive, not a standard military grade one. We have seen several terror attacks in Israel which used the same type of home-made explosives. Do you know what type of detonator was used?"
Julietta said, "We found the remains of a small backpack and pieces of a cheap cellphone. Before you ask, we couldn't find any parts and pieces of the triggering device from the large bomb that brought down the two towers. We only know that military C4 explosives were used."
"How easy is it to obtain C4 in Italy?"
"Unfortunately, there is quite a lot of the stuff lying around. Criminals like it and it has been used in many Mafia-related crimes, but we believe that it can also be purchased on the internet, the so-called 'darknet'. Of course, any country that supports Islamic terror can use the diplomatic pouch to bring it into Italy, or any of the neighboring countries and then drive it over the open borders."
David said, "Julietta, I would like to go to my hotel and write my report. There are some other details I would like to discuss with you. Can we have dinner together and talk about it?"
Julietta looked at the handsome man, and laughed, "I expected something more original from a sophisticated Mossad agent. Of course, I'd be glad to have dinner with you and introduce you to some of the delicacies of Emilia-Romagna cuisine." She didn't say whether those delicacies were confined to the local wines and kitchen.
Julietta arrived at David's hotel, fashionably 10 minutes late. David was sitting at the hotel's bar, tasting a glass of red wine, and reading the latest news on his cellphone. When he noticed that the bar's cheerful background chatter suddenly fell silent he lifted his head from the small screen to see what had caused the change. He saw a tall, lithe woman, dressed in a tight pants-suit and nothing else, as his experienced eye could tell, gliding through the crowded room and stopping by his table. As he rose to greet Julietta he could almost hear the collective sigh from all the other men in the bar. He stretched out his hand to shake hands, but Julietta opened her arms for a hug and a peck on the cheek and appeared to be in no hurry to release him from her embrace. David silently thanked the bartender for keeping the lighting at a low level, so his flushed face was not evident to anyone except Julietta who seemed to enjoy his discomfort.