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CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Gaetano went to Via Argenteria Vecchia and knocked on every door, asking if anyone had seen anything the day of the second kidnapping. Every resident said no, as he expected they would. He was about to leave when he noticed the silversmith opening his shop, which had been closed for days.
Gaetano hurried over and went inside. The shop was tasteful, lined with display cases holding glittering silver earrings, necklaces, and other jewelry. The silversmith, an older man with a thin gray mustache, looked up from the counter. His features were as delicate as a watch mechanism, and he had on a gray frock coat.
“Can I help you, sir?” the silversmith asked politely. “We have fine silver jewelry, made by my son. Also lovely candlesticks, a nice gift.”
“I’m just looking.” Gaetano sensed that the man needed to make a sale, probably because he had lost money over the past few days.
“We have a wonderful selection of religious articles.”
“I can see that.” Gaetano gravitated toward the glass display of silver crucifixes, rosaries, and an array of silverex voti, shaped like feet, eyes, ears, and a head, the last presumably for madness.
“Are you interested in anex voto?” The silversmith crossed to the religious counter. “I have the best selection in Palermo. I can offer you a ten percent discount.”
Gaetano needed information. “I noticed your shop’s been closed. Were you ill?”
“No, I had a personal matter.” The silversmith took anex votofrom the display and set it on the glass counter. It was shaped liked a human torso, showing internal organs and the digestive tract. “Thisex votois all in one, as you can see.”
Gaetano recoiled, finding it oddly graphic.
“I just got this new one.” The silversmith pulled out anotherex voto, which was shaped like a swaddled infant. “This one is for a sick baby—”
“I know,” Gaetano interrupted him, bereft. He had to rest his hand on the counter, momentarily unsteady.
“Sir, are you all right?”
“Yes, thank you,” Gaetano answered, shaken.
“Take it,” the silversmith said, after a moment.
“No, I can’t. I don’t have the money, and it’s not why I’m here.”
“Take it anyway, as my gift.”
“I can’t possibly accept it.”
“I’ll wrap it for you.” The silversmith got white tissue paper from behind the counter, folded theex votoinside, then presented it to him. “Here we go, sir. I’ll pray for you and your child.”
“Thank you.” Gaetano’s throat thickened. He couldn’t begin to explain.
The silversmith smiled, sympathetic. “We must put our faith into practice every day, not only in church.”
“That’s exactly how I feel.” Gaetano warmed to find a kindred spirit. “A loss to one is a loss to all, particularly when it comes to children.”
“Yes, I believe that.” The silversmith’s eyes filmed, and Gaetano realized he had to have been thinking of the kidnapped boy, so he seized the opportunity.
“I heard that a boy was abducted near here the other day. I feel for the family and their lost child, now that I have lost my own.” Gaetano was thinking of what Maria had said to him. “Please tell me what you know. That’s all I ask. I’m trying to help them.”
The silversmith frowned, pained. “I don’t know anything.”
“What did the kidnapper look like?”
“I didn’t see him. I was in the shop with the boy’s mother.”
“What’s her name?”
The silversmith hesitated. “Whoareyou?”
