"Dibdin, Michael - Aurelio Zen 02 - Vendetta UC - part 12" - читать интересную книгу автора (Dibdin Michael)

Friday, 11.20 - 20.45




'He threatened to kill me?'
'Oh, yes! Me too, for that matter. But it's only talk. He
has to call his mother if he finds a spider in the bath. Now
if she'd said it we might have something to worry about.'
The cafe on Via Veneto accurately reflected the faded
glories of the street itself. The mellow tones of marble,
leather and wood predominated. Dim lighting discreetly
revealed the understated splendours of an establishment
so prestigious it had no need to put on a show. Its famous
name appeared everywhere, on the cups and saucers, the
spoons, the sugar-bowl and ashtray, the peach-coloured
napkins ar,d tablecloth and the staff' azure jackets. The
waiters conducted themselves like family retainers,
studiously polite yet avoiding any hint o1 familiarity. A
sumptuous calm reigned.
The cafe was too far from the Viminale to be one of the
regular haunts of Ministry personnel, who in any case
would have balked at paying 4'000 lire for a cup of coffee
they could get elsewhere for 800, with a hefty dose of
Roman pandemonium thrown in for free. This was one
reason why Zen had invited Tania there for their first
meeting since his return from Sardinia. The other was a
desire he still didn't completely understand, to do things
differently, to break free of old habits, to change his life,
himself.
'How did he find out?'
She smiled, anticipating his reaction.
'He hired a private detective.'
'To follow you?'
'To follow you!'
So that was who Leather Jacket had been working for,
thought Zen, not Spadola or Fabri, but Mauro Bevilacqua!
Ironically, he might have considered that possibility earlier
if it hadn't seemed wishful thinking to imagine that Tania's
husband could have any reason to feel jealous ofhim.
'He didn't want to admit even to the detective that his
wife might be unfaithful,' Tania explained. 'He was afraid
people would laugh at him and call him a cuckold.'
'Which he wasn't, of course. Isn't, I mean.'
'Well, it depends on how you look at it. According to the
strictest criteria, a husband is a cuckold if his wife has even
thought of being unfaithful.'