A hug and a kiss. Salvo
P.S. A friend of mine in Vigàta who’s a notary will administer a fund of one-half billion lire in François’s name, which he’ll be free to use when he comes legally of age. I find it fitting that our son should be officially born the exact moment he sets foot in our house, and more than fitting that he should be helped through life by his real mother, whose money that was.
o o o
your father is nearing the end do not delay if you ever want to see him again. arcangelo prestifilippo.
He’d been expecting these words, but when he read them the dull ache returned, as when he’d first found out.
Except that now it was compounded by the anguish of knowing what duty required him to do: to bend down over the bed, kiss his father’s forehead, feel his dry, dying breath, look him in the eye, say a few comforting words. Would he have the strength? Drenched in sweat, he thought this must be the inevitable test, if indeed it was true that he must grow up, as Professor Pintacuda had said.
I will teach François not to fear my death, he thought. And from this thought, which surprised him by the very fact that he’d had it, he derived a temporary peace of mind.
o o o
Right outside the gates of Valmontana, after four straight hours of driving, was a road sign indicating the route to follow for the Clinica Porticelli.
He left the car in the well-ordered parking lot and went in. He felt his heart beating right under his Adam’s apple.
“My name is Montalbano. I’d like to see my father who’s staying here.”
The person behind the desk eyed him for a moment, then pointed to a small waiting room.
“Please make yourself comfortable. I’ll call Dr. Brancato for you.”
He sat down in an armchair and picked up one of the magazines that lay on a small table. He put it back down at once. His hands were so sweaty they had wet the cover.
The doctor, a very serious-looking man of about fifty in a white smock, came in and held out his hand to him.
“Mr. Montalbano? I am very, very sorry to have to tell you that your father died peacefully two hours ago.”
“Thank you,” said Montalbano.
The doctor looked at him, slightly bewildered. But it wasn’t him the inspector was thanking.
2 8 9
AU T H O R ’ S N OT E
One critic, when reviewing my book The Terra-Cotta Dog, wrote that Vigàta, the nonexistent town in which all my novels are set, is “the most invented city of the most typical Sicily.” I cite these words in support of the requisite declaration that all names, places, and situations in this book have been invented out of whole cloth. Even the license plate.
If fantasy has somehow coincided with reality, the blame, in my opinion, lies with reality.
The novel is dedicated to Flem. He liked stories like this.
2 9 1
N OT ES
1 sardines a beccafico: Sarde a beccafico are a famous Sicilian spe-cialty named after a small bird, the beccafico ( Sylvia borin, garden war-bler in English), which is particularly fond of figs; indeed the name beccafico means “fig-pecker.” The headless, cleaned sardines are stuffed with sautéed breadcrumbs, pinenuts, sultana raisins, and anchovies, then rolled up in such a way that, when removed from the oven, they resemble the bird.
6 “the prefect”: The prefetto is the local representative of the central Italian government; one is assigned to each province. They are part of the national, not local bureaucracy.
29 alalonga all’agrodolce: Alalonga (literally “longwing”) is a particularly delicious species of small tuna. All’agrodolce means
“sweet and sour,” and in this case involves sautéing a small steak of the fish in a sauce of vinegar, oil, sugar, and parsley.
29 The Northern League . . . towards secession: The Lega Nord is a right-wing political party based in the northern regions of Italy (Lombardy,Veneto, Piedmont) and known for its prejudices against foreign immigrants and southern Italians. Until recently they had been threatening to constitute a separate national entity under the historically dubious name of Padania (after the Po River, which runs from the Piedmont through Lombardy and the Veneto), and to secede from the Italian republic.
2 9 3
N O T E S
38 They spread their hands apart, looking sorrowfuclass="underline" Spreading the hands apart, palms open, is a gesture typical of southern Italians and seen often among Italian Americans, most notably Al Pacino in many of his movie roles. It usually expresses helplessness and resignation to fate.
39 A smell of stale perfume, burnt straw in color: As seen in the first two novels, Montalbano synesthetically associates colors with smells.
51 E te lo vojo dì che sò stato io: b>“And I want to say that it was me.” The lines are a refrain from a popular Italian song of the early 1970s by the Fratelli DeAngelis. In it a man confesses to a friend that it was he who committed an unsolved crime of passion some thirty years before, and that he has kept the truth inside him all these years.p>
51 “goat-tied”: The Sicilian word is incaprettato (containing the word for goat, capra), and it refers to a particularly cruel method of execution used by the Mafia, where the victim, facedown, has a rope looped around his neck and then tied to his feet, which are raised behind his back, as in hog-tying. Fatigue eventually forces him to lower his feet, strangling himself in the process.
69 “Italy is a Republic founded on construction work”: A send-up of the first sentence of the Italian constitution: “Italy is a Republic founded on work.”
73 a gesture that meant “gone away”: Normally this consists of tapping the edge of the right hand against the open left palm, a sign used equally in Italy, France, Spain, and North Africa to mean “let’s go” or “gone.” 79 Montalbano brought his fingertips together, pointing upwards,
artichokelike: This is a familiar gesture of questioning used by all Italians.
2 9 4
N O T E S
79 “Frère . . . Salvo”: The French conversation translates as follows:
“Brother?”
[. . .]
“Yes. His brother Ahmed.”
“Where is he?”
“I don’t know,” [. . . .]
“Her husband?”
[. . .]
“Just François’s father. A bad man.”
[. . .]
“My name is Aisha,” [. . .]
“Mine is Salvo,” [. . .]
81 five hundred million lire: About $300,000 at the time of the novel’s publication in 1998.
96 two hundred twenty thousand lire . . . three hundred eighty
thousand . . . one hundred seventy-seven thousand lire: Respectively, about $150, $200, and $95 at the time.
105 he was going out to the nearest tobacco shop: Tobacco products in Italy are distributed by the state monopoly and sold only in licensed shops, bars, and cafés.
107 when Montelusa was called Kerkent: The fictional Montelusa is modeled on the city of Agrigento (the ancient Agrigentum), called Girgenti by the Sicilians and Kerkent by the Arabs.