"Dibdin, Michael - Aurelio Zen 02 - Vendetta UC - part 05" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dibdin Michael)

only half as many tables. In any case, the clientele came
almost evclusively from the business and political worlds,
and was happy to pay whatever Licio wished to ask in
return for the privilege of being able to discuss sensitive
matters in a normal tone of voice with no risk ofbeing either
overheard or deafened by the neighbours. Hence the
place's unique cachet: you went to other restaurants to see
and be seen; at Licio's you paid more to pass unnoticed.
On the rare occasions when Zen spent this kind of money
on a meal he went to places where the food, rather than the
ambience, was the attraction, so Gilberto Nieddu's remark
had been accurate enough. That didn't make Zen feel any
happier about the slightly patronizing tone in which it had
been made. Matters were not improved when Gilberto
patted his arm familiarly and whispered, 'Don't worry! This
one's on me.'
Zen made a final attempt to get his friend to appreciate
the gravity of the situation.
'Look, I'll spell it out for you. They're asking me to
frame someone. Do you understand? I'm to go to Sar-
dinia and fake some bit of evidence, come up with a
surprise witness, anything. They don't care what I do or
how I do it as long as it gets the charges against Favelloni
withdrawn, or at least puts the trial dates back several
months.'
Gilberto nodded vaguely. He was still glancing com-
pulsively around the restaurant.
'This could be your big chance, Aurelio,' he murmured,
checking his watch yet again.
Zen stared at him with a fixed intensity that was a
reproach.
'Gilberto, we are talking here about sending an inno-
cent person to prison for twenty years, to say nothing of
allowing a man who has gunned down four people in
cold blood to walk free. Quite apart from the moral
aspect, that is seriously illegal.'
The Sardinian shrugged. 'So don't do it. Phone in sick
or something.'
'For fuck's sake, this is not just another job! I've been
recommended to these people! They've been told that I'm
an unscrupulous self-seeker, that I cooked the books in
the Miletti case and wouldn't think twice about doing so
again. They've briefed me, they've cut me in. I know
what they're planning to do and how they're planning to
do it. If I try and get out of it now, they're not just going
to say, "Fine, suit yourself, we'll find someone else."
They've already hinted that if I don't play along I could
expect to become another statistic in somewhere like
Palermo. Down there you can get a contract hit done for a
few million lire. There are even people who'll do it for