Bella Italia (7 page)

Half an hour later the door opened and Karin entered. Hans followed right behind her.

“All done,” said the Dutch woman, seemingly relieved. “Now they need to question you two, and we should be finished.”

“And after that?” Petra wanted to know.

“I think they will just bring you to your holiday address.” She made an apologetic gesture right away. “I’m not entirely sure. But I think so.”

Petra got up. Because Niels remained seated, she gently pulled him up. “Come on, sweetie. We need to go and have a little chat and then we can go home.”

“I want Daddy to come.”

Hans walked up to his son and rubbed his head. “I know you’re a big boy, and I am proud of you. Just do me a favor and go with your mother. I already went, and they are very nice people.”

Visibly reluctant, Niels got up and let Petra guide him to the adjoining room.

“Please have a seat,” Carlo Martuccia said in English when they entered the room. Tardelli gave a friendly nod. Martuccia pointed to the chairs in front of the desk. As soon as they sat down he began to speak Italian to Karin.

“Niels, this gentleman’s name is Carlo Martuccia,” she said a few moments later. “He works for the police, and he would like to help you. He also wants to ask you a few questions. The other man is named Filippo Tardelli, and he may also ask you some questions. But he will do so in Italian, because his English isn’t very good. Mister Martuccia will also ask most of the questions in Italian, which I will then translate.”

Niels kept his head down, clearly feeling uncomfortable.

Martuccia said something else to Karin, which she immediately translated.

“Would you mind telling us what you and Mats did tonight?”

Suddenly Niels became very skittish. He pressed his face against Petra’s chest, shook his head and quietly began to cry.

“No … no.”

Martuccia asked another question.

“Is there something else that you want to tell us maybe?” Karin asked Niels with a warm smile. He pressed his face even closer to Petra, and the quiet cries quickly changed into full-on sobs.

Karin looked at Martuccia, who gave an understanding nod. Besides the sound of Niels’s crying, the room was silent. Martuccia exchanged a glance with his colleague and looked at his watch. He focused on Petra.

“The doctor should arrive here any moment. We would like Niels to undergo a brief physical examination. As soon as that is done, you can return to the campground.”

“Just a little while longer, sweetie,” Petra whispered. “The doctor is going to have a quick look at you, and then we can go back to the campground.” She gave him an encouraging tap on the shoulder.

Niels nodded slowly. He stopped crying and was visibly relieved.

Accompanied by Karin, Hans entered the office of Carlo Martuccia the next morning at nine o’clock. Petra and Niels waited for them in another office. They had been picked up by two plainclothes detectives, and when they arrived at the police station, Karin had explained to them that the detectives only wanted to speak to Hans. They needed some more information about what happened the night before.

Carlo Martuccia and Filippo Tardelli exchanged some pleasantries when Hans sat down across from them.

“Following your statement yesterday, we still have a few questions,” Martuccia began in English. Hans understood these people had to do their job, but what else could he tell them that he had not already told them? What could he possibly add?

Martuccia tapped a file on the desk with his nail. “The medical report shows no evidence or any traces that your son suffered any sexual abuse or physical injury. Obviously, this is just the preliminary report. During the course of our investigation we may find new facts. Certainly because Niels hasn’t been able to tell us anything himself.”

Hans let out a big sigh of relief.

“Has Niels told you or your wife anything we don’t know yet?” Martuccia asked.

Hans shook his head. “We had a very restless night, but we did manage to sleep a few hours, which I thought was already an accomplishment after such a hellish night. Niels is completely wrecked. He hasn’t told us anything, but we also haven’t pushed him.”

“I’d like to go back to the beginning. The moment you heard something in the bushes.”

“Sure, but can I answer that in Dutch please?”

Karin nodded and said something to Martuccia, who responded with
prego
.

“I heard a rustling noise. I immediately went into the bushes while I called out to Niels, and I came upon that terrible scene. First, I saw the silhouette of a man bent over. When I got close he held his arms up. He said something in Italian, he sounded scared. As if I’d caught him. Then I saw the young boy’s legs on the ground. I walked toward them and called Niels. When he responded I didn’t see him right away, but he was hunched over a few yards farther. I pulled him into my arms right away. That’s when I noticed that the boy on the ground was Mats. He had his eyes wide open. I felt his neck for his pulse, but I couldn’t find one. Then I called out for Petra to watch over Niels, and I ran after that bastard.”

“Why did your son not respond to you when you called him, why did he not get up and run to you?”

Hans shrugged his shoulders. “Because he was frightened to death—it seems pretty obvious to me. Besides, that man was still there by the time I got there. Maybe he kept quiet so he wouldn’t become the next victim.” Hans was beginning to feel uncomfortable. “What kind of question is that? He probably just saw his friend being murdered. He saw the man who did it. Of course he was afraid to move. If he did move there was a chance that the bastard would have hurt him too.”

“That is your reasoning,” Karin translated Tardelli’s response.

Hans raised his hand. “No, that is the reasoning of an eleven-year-old boy, frightened for his life.”

“It’s an interpretation,” Tardelli answered. “Let’s just keep it at that for now.”

Hans looked at the detective with surprise. “What do you mean, exactly? It’s as clear as a bell. Obviously, Mats was murdered by the homeless man, who drowned. What’s so unclear about that?”

“The chain of evidence,” Martuccia responded quickly. “For now, there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that the now-deceased suspect actually committed the murder. As long as this doesn’t change, we have to keep all options open.”

Hans looked at them in disbelief. “Is this what people mean by the Italian bureaucracy?”

Martuccia ignored the provoking question.

“Why has Niels remained silent?” Tardelli asked. “As you’ve stated, the suspected killer is dead, so I can’t think of a single reason why your son should shut down completely. Unless he is protecting someone. As long as we haven’t heard his version of the events, we will never know exactly what took place in those bushes. Before or after your arrival.”

Hans grabbed the chair’s armrest to force himself not jump up in anger. “What?! How dare you insinuate that I have something to do with this hideous murder?”

Tardelli shook his head. “I’m not insinuating anything. As my colleague stated before, we look at every possible angle. No evidence has been found at this point suggesting that the deceased is the murderer, so keep that in mind.”

Hans sighed. “This is really unbelievable. …”

The detectives conferred among themselves. A little later Martuccia passed their instructions on to Karin.

“The detectives are ending this conversation now,” she reported. “You may leave, but you’re expected to come back at four o’clock this afternoon. Niels has an appointment with our staff psychologist.”

Hans looked at Martuccia. “So how long will it be before we can return home? I respect your investigation, but you must also understand that my family and I long for our own home now. We have been through hell and need our rest.”

Martuccia nodded. “We just need you to stay here today. We think it’s important that Niels speaks to our psychologist. We will wait for his analysis, and we will contact you tomorrow morning.”

Hans stood up and shook the hands of the detectives and left the office with Karin. When the door closed behind him, his uneasy feelings grew stronger. He had entered the office as a kind of victim but had left as a possible suspect. It felt like a great injustice.

He suppressed a curse.
This is just unbelievable. How could they get it in their heads to suspect me? I’m the one who took action and protected my child. Who are these bunches of idiots? What in the world do they think they’re doing?

When he was reunited with his family, he put on a sheepish smile to reassure them that all was well. Or maybe to reassure himself.

Hans came into the living room and headed straight for Petra, who was sitting behind her laptop. He kissed her on the cheek.

“Hello, darling. How was your day?”

Petra shrugged. “Nothing special. After the summer vacation business is always a little slow.”

“And I am buried in work. I worked like a crazy person today, and then just at six o’clock, two more appointments were added,” he said, semi-upset.

“Poor baby.”

Hans smiled for a moment. In fact, all that distraction at work had been good for him, because even though he would have liked to spend more time at home, he still found it difficult to deal with the situation. While he looked at Petra questioningly, he nodded toward Niels, who was on the couch watching TV.

Petra nodded a few times, indicating that it had been okay today.

After Niels had spoken with the Italian psychologist at the Verona police station, they were picked up by a police car and dropped off at their mobile home. Karin had joined them.

Niels remained silent. Because they didn’t want to force anything and could see how frightened he was, they told him he could sleep in their bed with him, an offer he accepted gladly.

After Martuccia had called them to say that they no longer needed to be available, they had left the very next day in the early afternoon. Back to the peace and security of their own home.

Much to their dismay, Niels also kept quiet during the long ride home. He played on his Game Boy and looked out the window once in a while. They had asked him questions, but it soon became clear that Niels was not going to be speaking any time soon, which also meant that he didn’t reveal a thing about his conversation with the psychologist. But they didn’t have the impression he had found it to be a bad conversation. They were thankful for that, because at that point, each extra negative impulse was one too many. He’d had enough to deal with already. After they had returned home, he retreated to his room and only came down at night for dinner and to watch some TV.

When he slept, Hans and Petra would discuss the situation. It was clear to them that Niels was not doing well and that they couldn’t resolve this on their own. During a few phone conversations Hans had with a couple of police officers he knew personally and treated in his practice, the same name kept popping up. The police in his area regularly used a woman named Irene Gerritsen for victim counseling. She was an experienced therapist in her late forties, and everyone raved about her working methods.

After discussing it with Petra, Hans decided to contact her. He told her the story and Irene suggested that Niels come to see her once a week for one-hour sessions. At the end of each session, she would share her thoughts in another room with the parent who came with him. Today Petra had brought Niels to his appointment and spoken to Irene afterward.

After an hour more of watching TV, Niels started to get ready for bed. Hans jumped up from his chair and spread his arms out wide. “Come give me a hug, tough guy.”

Niels smiled a little and kissed his father on the cheek.

“I love you,” Hans said.

“Love you, too,” Niels answered a little sheepishly. Hans looked at the clock hanging on the wall above the TV. Niels noticed it and grinned. He had succeeded once again in going to bed later than the time they had agreed upon. Hans ran his fingers through his son’s hair, and Petra got up to give him his good-night kiss upstairs.

When she came back downstairs, she closed the living room door gently behind her and sat down across from Hans.

“Did Irene have anything interesting to say today?” he asked softly.

Petra nodded. “She thinks Niels is holding something back. That he has a secret that he is unwilling or unable to share. At least in his perception, it is a big secret. But it could be something very serious.”

“Given the events, I would think it definitely could be something very serious, but obviously I hope it is not,” Hans muttered.

“That’s how Irene sees it, too. After all, he has experienced something horrible. Niels is still a bit of a mystery at the moment, but she doesn’t want to force anything. She is convinced he is going to tell us on his own. The big question is … when will that happen?”

“Is there anything we can do? Talk to him about it or something?”

Petra shook her head. “She asked me specifically not to do that. One way or another, it has to come from him first, after he takes the initiative, and then it’s okay to talk to him about it. Until then, we just have to be patient.”

Hans clenched his fist.

Petra placed her hand on his. “I understand how you feel. Believe me, I also feel really badly about this.”

“
Badly
is not the right word,” Hans hissed between his teeth. “I feel incredibly helpless and because of that I feel guilty. That it is not within my power to protect my own son.” His eyes filled up. He wiped a tear away and sniffled. “So, it’s just going to take some time.”

Petra agreed and put her arms around him. “We will get through this, as long as we do it together.”

Hans sniffled again and swallowed. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Detective Carlo Martuccia got up from his chair, as did the majority of his colleagues from theirs, and left the police station lunchroom. At the beginning of the year the local government decided to institute a complete reorganization after postponing the idea for quite a while. But now cuts needed to be made at the Department of Justice. This meant that the police corps around Lake Garda needed to be downsized and various departments needed to be integrated. In reality, this meant that a few of the posts in the smaller villages had to be closed and that a few departments were merged, allowing them to save money on the budget and create more cooperation between the departments.