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Baron Zito was sitting in a bookless library behind a desk cluttered with papers, wine bottles, and rotted fruit. He must have been an elegant man in his day, but now his hair hung in greasy clumps, his cloudy gaze was unfocused, and his mouth had a grim downturn. His maroon dressing robe had stains on its black lapels, and he was still in his pajamas, showing underneath.
Baron Zito rose and walked around the desk, leaning on its top. “How much do you want? What’s the demand?”
“What demand?”
“The ransom demand. Isn’t that why you’re here? You said it wasabout a kidnapping. Whoever took my Violetta sent you, didn’t they? Aren’t you the intermediary? The messenger?”
“What do you mean?” Dante felt mystified. He wondered if Baron Zito was crazy. He looked it.
“Why are you pretending? My Violetta was abducted from the convent. Her window had been broken open. Mother Superior came to tell me. They didn’t see who took her. Nobody saw anything. Oh no, oh no.” Baron Zito sagged, tears filming his eyes. “I have nothing left, no money, I owe taxes, she’s lost, I’m lost, I can’t pay a ducat, not a single one.”
“Look, I have no ransom demand—”
“Please, have mercy, on her account. Can you imagine what she’s going through? How terrified she is? Kidnapped, held against her will?”
“Yes, I can, I can imagine that exactly.” Dante almost laughed at the irony, but he wasn’t in a joking mood.
“What have they done to her? Where have they taken her? Whatever they want of me, she doesn’t deserve what you’ve done. It’s all my fault, I admit it, I have enemies, many of them, I’ve done wrong. Not Violetta, she doesn’t deserve—”
“No child does. Not your son, either.”
“I don’t know what you mean.” Baron Zito blinked with bewilderment. “My Davide died of drink in Belgium. My wife died years ago of a heart attack. I’m alone, all alone, and Violetta’s been abducted—”
“Don’t forget me, your illegitimate son. You had me kidnapped, taken from my mother at the Saint Rosalia festival. You paid yourgabellottoFranco Fiorvanti to kidnap me, and he hired a man named Claudio to put me into the madhouse.” Dante could see him listening in horror. “My name is Dante Michangeli.”
“You’re...alive?” Baron Zito’s mouth dropped open. “No, you’re supposed to be... to be...”
“Dead?You wanted me dead? Not just kidnapped, murdered?” Dante reached into his pocket, whipped out Lucia’s knife, and backed BaronZito against the wall. Baron Zito withered on the spot, and Dante pressed the blade into the old noble’s stringy throat.
“Kill me,” Baron Zito croaked. “Kill me. Please.”
“What?” Dante hadn’t expected this reaction, and it threw him off balance.
“Kill me. I deserve it. I admit, I told Franco to kill you, he must have double-crossed me. I deserve to die. Kill me, kill me—”
“Why did you want your own sonkilled?”
“You’re not my son.”
“I don’t believe you!”
“I’m telling the truth. You’ve got it wrong. Put me out of my misery.” Baron Zito’s hand went to his cheek, trembling. “Violetta’s never coming back because I can’t pay. They got it all wrong, too, everyone has it all wrong, all wrong—”
“Tell me why you did it! My own father!”
“I swear, I’m not your father.”
“Then who is?”
Baron Zito swallowed, his Adam’s apple going up and down. “Okay, I’ll tell you.”
CHAPTER NINETY-FOUR
Twilight fell, and Gaetano rode down the Via Maqueda with Agostino, leading the donkeys that carried the six other boys. Lucia had returned to the madhouse, fearful of the city, and Gaetano understood why, seeing the reactions to the boys. Families filled the streets during thepasseggiata, talking and socializing, but they stopped abruptly when they spotted the caravan. They stared at the boys, pointed at their lopsided bodies, and recoiled at their bowed legs.
Gaetano turned onto Piazza della Vittoria and spotted the familiar crowd ofcarabinieriin front of theQuestura. Their plumed caps turned to him, one after the other, when they saw the caravan approaching. Gaetano even recognized the officers who had thrown him out many years ago.
“What’s this about?” one of thecarabiniericalled out, as the caravan reached the entrance. “You don’t think you’re bringing them here, do you?”
