go out there?'
'I hadn't made plans yet to go out this summer, sir, but if you ask it like that, I suppose I can.'
Brunetti had had no idea at all of asking her to go and had inquired out of simple curiosity, wondering if she knew someone who would be willing to talk to them openly. 'No, nothing like that, Signorina,' he said. 'I was just surprised at the coincidence.' Even as he spoke, however, he was considering what she had just told him: a cousin in Pellestrina, a cousin married to a fisherman.
She interrupted his thoughts by saying, 'I hadn't made any other plans for vacation, you know, sir, and I really do love it there.'
'Please, Signorina,' he said, forcing himself to sound convinced and, he hoped, convincing, 'it's hardly anything we could ask of you.'
'No one's asking, sir. I'm merely trying to decide where to go for the first part of my vacation.'
'But I thought you just came back from...' he began, but she stopped him with a glance.
'There are so few days I manage to take,' she said modestly, and at the words, he blotted from his memory the postcards that had arrived at the Questura from Egypt, Crete, Peru and New Zealand.
Before she could suggest anything, he said, ‘I hardly think any of this is proper, Signorina.'
She gave him a look that combined shock and injury. 'I'm not sure it's anyone's business where I choose to spend my vacation, sir.'
'Signorina,' he began by way of protest, but she cut him short with her most efficient voice.
'We can discuss this again at some other time, sir, but first let me see what I can find out about those people.' She turned her head to one side, as if hearing a sound Brunetti could not. ‘I think I remember something about the Bottins, a few years ago. But I'll have to think about it.' She gave him a broad smile. 'Or I can ask my cousin.'
'Of course,' Brunetti agreed, not at all pleased at the way she had outmanoeuvred him. Habitual caution made him ask, 'Do they know you work here?'
'I doubt it ’ she answered. 'Most people really aren't interested in other people or what they do, not unless it bothers or affects them in some way.' Brunetti had concluded much the same thing, through years of experience. He wondered if her belief was theoretical or practical; she seemed so young and so untender.
She looked up at him and said, 'My father never approved of the fact that I left the bank, so I doubt he's told anyone where I'm working. I imagine most of my family still think I work there. If they bother to think about it at all, that is.'
Brunetti had become aware of what his enthusiasm had led her to contemplate, and again he protested. 'Signorina, this is not a good idea. These two men were murdered.' Her glance was cool, uninterested. 'And you're really not a member of the police, not officially, that is.' As he had seen done in countless films, she turned up her palm, bent her fingers, and examined her nails, as though they were the most interesting thing in the room. With her thumbnail, she flicked an invisible speck from another nail, then glanced in his direction to see if he was finished.
'As I was saying, sir, I think I'll be on vacation next week. The Vice-Questore will be gone, so I don't think he'll be much inconvenienced by my absence.'
'Signorina ’ Brunetti said, his voice calm and official, 'there could be a certain measure of danger involved here.' She didn't answer. 'You don't have the skills,' he said.
'Would you rather send Alvise and Riverre?' she asked drily, naming the two worst officers on the force. Then she repeated, 'Skills?'
He began to speak, but she cut him off again. 'What skills do you think I'm going to need, Commissario: to fire a gun or restrain a suspect or jump from a third-floor window?'
He refused to answer, not wanting to provoke her further and reluctant to admit he was responsible in any way for her hare-brained idea.
'What sort of skills do you think I've been using here since I was hired? I don't go out and arrest
'I hadn't made plans yet to go out this summer, sir, but if you ask it like that, I suppose I can.'
Brunetti had had no idea at all of asking her to go and had inquired out of simple curiosity, wondering if she knew someone who would be willing to talk to them openly. 'No, nothing like that, Signorina,' he said. 'I was just surprised at the coincidence.' Even as he spoke, however, he was considering what she had just told him: a cousin in Pellestrina, a cousin married to a fisherman.
She interrupted his thoughts by saying, 'I hadn't made any other plans for vacation, you know, sir, and I really do love it there.'
'Please, Signorina,' he said, forcing himself to sound convinced and, he hoped, convincing, 'it's hardly anything we could ask of you.'
'No one's asking, sir. I'm merely trying to decide where to go for the first part of my vacation.'
'But I thought you just came back from...' he began, but she stopped him with a glance.
'There are so few days I manage to take,' she said modestly, and at the words, he blotted from his memory the postcards that had arrived at the Questura from Egypt, Crete, Peru and New Zealand.
Before she could suggest anything, he said, ‘I hardly think any of this is proper, Signorina.'
She gave him a look that combined shock and injury. 'I'm not sure it's anyone's business where I choose to spend my vacation, sir.'
'Signorina,' he began by way of protest, but she cut him short with her most efficient voice.
'We can discuss this again at some other time, sir, but first let me see what I can find out about those people.' She turned her head to one side, as if hearing a sound Brunetti could not. ‘I think I remember something about the Bottins, a few years ago. But I'll have to think about it.' She gave him a broad smile. 'Or I can ask my cousin.'
'Of course,' Brunetti agreed, not at all pleased at the way she had outmanoeuvred him. Habitual caution made him ask, 'Do they know you work here?'
'I doubt it ’ she answered. 'Most people really aren't interested in other people or what they do, not unless it bothers or affects them in some way.' Brunetti had concluded much the same thing, through years of experience. He wondered if her belief was theoretical or practical; she seemed so young and so untender.
She looked up at him and said, 'My father never approved of the fact that I left the bank, so I doubt he's told anyone where I'm working. I imagine most of my family still think I work there. If they bother to think about it at all, that is.'
Brunetti had become aware of what his enthusiasm had led her to contemplate, and again he protested. 'Signorina, this is not a good idea. These two men were murdered.' Her glance was cool, uninterested. 'And you're really not a member of the police, not officially, that is.' As he had seen done in countless films, she turned up her palm, bent her fingers, and examined her nails, as though they were the most interesting thing in the room. With her thumbnail, she flicked an invisible speck from another nail, then glanced in his direction to see if he was finished.
'As I was saying, sir, I think I'll be on vacation next week. The Vice-Questore will be gone, so I don't think he'll be much inconvenienced by my absence.'
'Signorina ’ Brunetti said, his voice calm and official, 'there could be a certain measure of danger involved here.' She didn't answer. 'You don't have the skills,' he said.
'Would you rather send Alvise and Riverre?' she asked drily, naming the two worst officers on the force. Then she repeated, 'Skills?'
He began to speak, but she cut him off again. 'What skills do you think I'm going to need, Commissario: to fire a gun or restrain a suspect or jump from a third-floor window?'
He refused to answer, not wanting to provoke her further and reluctant to admit he was responsible in any way for her hare-brained idea.
'What sort of skills do you think I've been using here since I was hired? I don't go out and arrest
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