Inspector Lynley 18 - Just One Evil Act

sees an opportunity. He follows her as she leaves the
mercato
, heading in the direction of Viale Agostino Marti.
    “But why would she be heading there?” Lynley asked.
    Salvatore waved off the question. “A mere detail that does not interest Piero Fanucci, my friend.”
    He went on with the rest of the crime as Fanucci envisioned it: Carlo snatches the little girl somewhere along the route. He stashes her at some stables where he has slept rough since first coming to Lucca when his parents tossed him out of their Padova home. There he holds her until he can find someone to whom he can hand her off for money. This money he uses to feed his drug habit. You will note he stopped begging at the
mercato
after her disappearance,
no
?
Certo
, he has no need for drug money at the moment and now we know why. Mark my words well. When this monster runs out of money, he will turn to begging at the
mercato
once again.
    As far as
il Pubblico Ministero
was concerned, Salvatore explained, everything was neatly in place to mark Carlo Casparia as culpable: His motive was and would always be the acquisition of money for drugs. Everyone knew that
Ho fame
indicated the vagrant’s hunger for cocaine, marijuana, heroin, methamphetamine, or whatever other substance he was shoving regularly into his system. His means were as obvious as being able to rise to his feet and follow the little girl once she generously and innocently handed over her banana to assuage his supposed hunger. The
mercato
itself was his opportunity. It was, as always, crowded with both shoppers and tourists. Just as no one had noticed the child being snatched from the vicinity of the accordion player—which, of course, we now know didn’t happen anyway—so also no one had noticed Casparia taking her by the arm and guiding her away.
    To all of this, the Englishman remained silent, but his face was sombre. He stirred his
cappuccino
. So far, he’d not tasted it, so intently had he been listening to Salvatore’s tale. Now, he drank it straight down, and he broke his
dolce
into two pieces although he ate neither. “Forgive me for not entirely understanding how you proceed when this sort of conclusion is arrived at,” he said. “Has the public minister any evidence that supports this man’s confession or his own picture of the crime? Does he need any evidence?”
    “
Sì, sì, sì
,” Salvatore told him. The
magistrato
’s instructions—coming fast on the heels of Casparia’s confession—were now being followed.
    “And they are?” Lynley enquired politely.
    The stables where Carlo Casparia had been living rough for so long were now being sorted out by a group of scenes-of-crime officers. They would be looking for evidence of the child’s being held there for whatever period was necessary before Carlo decided what to do with her.
    “Where are these stables, exactly?” Lynley asked.
    They were in the Parco Fluviale, Salvatore told him. He had been intending to head there when Lynley arrived at the
questura
. Would the Englishman like to accompany him to see the scene?
    He would indeed, Lynley told him.
    It was only a brief ride round the enormous city wall to reach the
quartiere
of Borgo Giannotti. There, from beyond its main street with its line of busy shops, one ultimately gained access to the
parco
. During this ride, Lynley asked the questions that Salvatore had been anticipating as he told the tale of Carlo Casparia’s recent confession.
    What about the red car? the detective enquired. What did
il Pubblico Ministero
think about it? And was it the
magistrato
’s opinion that Casparia had given Hadiyyah over to the owner of the car, who then took Hadiyyah into the hills? And if the date on which this red car, the man, and the child had been sighted was the actual day on which Hadiyyah had gone missing . . . didn’t it then follow that Carlo Casparia would have had to know all along to whom he was going to deliver the child? Didn’t this suggest quite a degree of planning on his part? Did Signor Fanucci envision Casparia as capable of this? Did Salvatore himself envision this?
    “As to the red convertible car,” Salvatore said with an approving glance at Lynley, “the
magistrato
knows nothing of this car. Even as you and I go to the
parco
to ensure his will is being carried out, one of my officers is driving into the Alps with the man who saw that car. They will attempt to identify the point at which he saw it. A search will then be conducted