"Did you find anything?" Salvatore asked.
"The Canister place was weird... The guy had just moved in and there was perhaps a squatter there..." Chiara replied with a sigh, placing the phone down on the table and putting it on speakerphone.
"A squatter?" He asked," did the neighbors' report of anyone residing there?" he asked. It was quite late and night, and he had been quite busy with the press work throughout the day to actually talk to Chiara.
"Yes actually, but he always had a cap on and only one of the neighbors actually saw or talked to him. He gave a fake name, but we will have a sketch soon."
"Great... expecting anything from it?" Salvatore asked.
"Depends. Let's see" she muttered," anyway, what about your speech tomorrow?" she asked.
"The case is probably going to the carabiniere... So get ready to hand over" he said grimly.
"Excuse my language sir, but this is such shit..." she rolled her eyes," I should be allowed to work on it"
"Let's see how it pans out tomorrow. Wait until then and don't resist" he warned. She agreed to do so and asked him about his plans for the speech.
" Working on it right now... you'll see a finished version tomorrow," he said," I shall go work on it now... have a goodnight"
She bid him goodnight and cut the call. Sipping her glass of wine, she looked at the arranged stacks of files that she had kept aside, just to hand over in case that was what was required.
Another call, caused her to sigh, and she put the phone on speaker again," Officer Caruso here..." She leaned back on her couch.
"Officer, This is officer Ricci...the civilian who was supposed to provide us with a sketch is sick and has been taken to the hospital"
"Why? What happened?" she asked, sitting up immediately.
"He had an accident on the way and is undergoing surgery," he said. The bustle behind him along with the familiar beeping told her that he was at the hospital.
"Any signs of foul play?" she asked.
"Nothing as such officer. The person whose car hit him is a first-time offender and said that she was blindsided by the witness's car which was in the wrong lane... Will send you the file" he said.
"Okay then... Inform me in case you notice anything" she said and cut the call.
Leaning back on the couch, she wondered if she had missed anything. So far the case had given her nothing in terms of clues. Anything that she had seen, she had nearly memorized and stored, ready to use in case the knowledge was needed. By that method, she couldn't have missed anything.
So, what did she have?
She knew Kore... although certain things confused her.
She knew her basic MO... although certain things confused her here as well...
She also knew that she loved Andrea... and this confused her too...
Why...? Why could she just figure it out?
She decided that the best thing to do was to talk to Andrea...now.
It took her less than an hour to get into the prison and sit in the visiting room. The police, although inconvenienced, had to comply as she had managed to get Salvatore to order access for her.
The room was dimly lit, as per her orders and the cameras were recording. A recording device was placed on her lap.
The guards brought a very sleepy Matteo in and placed him in front of her. Chiara was taken aback by how young the boy actually was. She knew he was 21 but seeing his face made her wonder if he was actually younger. His hair was tousled, and he was looking down at the metal table, a hollow, empty look in his eyes.
"Mister Matteo... My name is officer Caruso… you can call me Caruso. I believe you do not accept your last name anymore, and I will call you Matteo... is that okay?" she asked, straightening up.
"Yes," he muttered.
"Did you have your dinner?" she asked, her face softening up.
Taken aback by her soft tone, he looked up at her momentarily before looking down again with a steeled face.
"Yes."
"Do you like the food here?" she asked
"If you trying to get me to say something... you will stay here till tomorrow" he muttered.
"Very well... what do you wish to talk about?" She asked.
He looked up at her hesitatingly," why you ask me?" he asked.
"You are the one who is answering... it's late at night and I have bothered you by coming here... so you should get a say..." she shrugged," Don't you think?"
"I- I don't know" he blinked several times as if trying to understand why she was giving him an option.
"So, what do you want to talk about?" she asked," you know what topics are related to you right…"
"Um... Kore" he looked up at her.
"Well, that is one topic" she looked down at the file on the table," it's not very important though"
This confused him even more, " Kore... not important?" he asked almost incredulously.
"No" Chiara shrugged, shaking her head slightly," Your topic is far more important"
He blinked at the girl, and she realized that he was not as intelligent as she thought he was," what about me?" he asked.
"You like drawing don't you?" she asked.
"I- yes" he nodded.
"You're wondering how I know that..." she muttered to herself," I know a lot about you Matteo... this file... is yours actually." she pointed at the bulky file. His file was actually not that large, but she pretended to like it was all his.
He looked down at the file and then back at her. She asked a few more questions about his likes and interests, earning close-ended answers from him.
"Now... what about the man who was living in Villagrazia-Falsomiele?" she asked," he told us that Kore is leaving Palermo. She killed two people but after the news article..." Chiara shrugged.
"Article?" he asked, his eyes widening.
"Yeah…" she nodded," we told the public that you died... and she is planning to leave the state. Do you know where she is going?"
He blanked out and simply blinked at her, at a loss for what to say. That was when she realized why Kore wanted him. It wasn't because she loved him at all. It was a different reason altogether. He knew something... something big, and she wanted to break him out before he could blurt it out. That would mean she had a time limit... she would have told him a time when she would come, and he would have to be silent and strong till then...
This meant she was still contacting him...
"Put him in isolation… Does he have any friends?" she asked, suddenly.
"Luca" he muttered.
"Ensure he sees only Luca for an hour every day. No one else. Change all his guards... Send me the files, I'll choose the guards" she instructed and stood up," My time here is limited... I have the man from Villagrazia-Falsomiele to interview in the hospital... I shall meet you soon hopefully" she smiled tightly while the boy nodded.
"Take him" she muttered to the guards and walked out with her file and recorder.
"May I know why the guards are being changed, officer?" One of the guards asked as Matteo left the room.
"You have a mole…" she muttered.