Czytaj książkę: «The Lost Twin»

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Federico Betti

The Lost Twin

Translated by Gentian Cane

Published by Tektime

This book is dedicated to all those people who, for any kind of reason, are known as Marco Mezzogori

Preface

He couldn’t be aware of the consequences from this sort of action, which exactly at that moment would seem quite normal to anyone.

He did feel really fine and this was the only thing he was absolutely sure.

Of course, not because nothing particularly impressive has ever happened to him: the same daily routine, but to feel good was the most important thing to Him, while nothing occurred till then so that he could think of something to be changed either now or later.

In His case, the notion of time merely was not a matter of concern, as the flow of minutes, hours, days and so on, perfectly matched with the saying “Everything is relative”.

One day, just at an imprecise moment, He saw Another one.

What was He doing in that place?

Being not able to give an answer, He realized day by day that the Other one had obviously the same rights as Him, including the right to stay where he was indeed.

Anyway, since the first day of his appearance, all has gone smoothly, without any noticeable problem, until something went wrong.

He couldn’t be able to identify what had gone wrong, but certainly there occurred something that brought about the change to this situation. The Other one didn’t show up, nevertheless all the rest remained unchanged, the same routine as always. Despite this, He would keep being the same, and for the sake of truth, He was feeling stronger and stronger every passing day…

Two months later...

The man shuddered and could hardly sleep for several days.

He knew that the day of luck could be any usual day of his life, and very soon he would become a father.

All his friends and relatives became aware and were getting ready for the baby party and, exactly on the day the woman has been urgently sent to the Medical Emergency, he called all those who, for the moment, came to his mind and let them know on the forthcoming day of luck.

In the surgery room, the man couldn’t wait to see the baby. Perhaps being not aware of what he was doing, he shook his wife’s hand as strongly as could be of pain to her.

After a very long wait, she gave birth to her baby and the anxiety faded away.

The woman was sent back to a patient room in the hospital Sant’Orsola of Bologna, along with her husband.

After the required checks, the Head of the Obstetrics Clinic informed the couple about the baby boy size, his weight of about four kilograms and tallness of forty two centimetres.

It doesn’t seem to be real to the couple: on that day their dream became true.

After spending the necessary time for recovery and waiting for the doctors’ decision to take her out of the hospital, the man got to the hospital to pick her wife up and along with the baby went home.

At the same evening, the man made contacts with his closest friends and relatives for having a party together on the occasion of his baby boy birth.

It was a real party in a very literal sense, with creamy chocolate cake, desserts, snacks, many drinks and also presents of the newborn baby kit, and while at the end, all were about to leave, it turned out that everyone was coming back home even happier since the news of the baby birth has been released.

Twenty five years later

I

Carla Mezzogori used to live a life without any unusual turn, except that sometimes she used to hang out with her husband or her friends instead, while he decided to stay home and watch any sport in TV.

Both had promptly a good feeling, in harmony with each other, as none of them hadn’t shown signs of doing things differently from what they usually did.

It could be said also that both of them were the typical persons habituated to the routine, that is, neither expected something particular from life, nor behaved in such a way to incite their fate beyond their usual daily activities.

They didn’t have kids as no such desire had been expressed so far, additionally, they were afraid of having the same fate as Luciano, Carla’s brother.

Since the birth, Marco, Luciano’s son, had presented some kind of abnormalities, if may be said so, and with the passing of time, his parents found out that their son was suffering from hemiplegia. In other words, he couldn’t move the right part of the body because of such disease. He wasn’t able to move either the arm or the leg.

Of course that Luciano and his wife, once received the confirmation of diagnosis, did obtain much more information and made a lot of efforts to improve the health of their son, through therapies and everything else, but health condition and common development of him had led to the decision of Carla and her husband to stop thinking of “giving birth to any baby”.

The missing kid and physical disability of her nephew had helped into the creation of a strong bond between Carla and Marco Mezzogori.

The boy had just turned twenty five and obviously had improvements since his birth, though no recovery could be considered yet.

Within the recent few years, Carla used to go and see her nephew, alone or in company of her husband, at least two or three times weekly; mostly during the evenings, often on her way back home or after dinner.

Just for thirty or forty minutes, long enough to see how he was doing, to have a chat with him and afterwards, she came back home.

Likewise the family of her nephew, Carla with her husband used to live in San Lazzaro of Savena, a county of Bologna, a few chilometers from the center of the capital of Emiglia Romagna.

The nephew was living with his family in viale della Repubblica, a street parallel to the street Emilia, therefore it usually took them only a few hundred meters to reach the nephew’s apartment, in the vicinities of via delle Rimembranze.

Frankly speaking, Carla Mezzogori didn’t have great relationships with her sister-in-law, Marco’s mother, nevertheless, Carla handled perfectly the situation whenever she was going to meet her nephew, sometimes putting a brave face on a bad job.

Perhaps the character of Marisa Lavezzoli; this was exactly the name of the sister-in-law, was one reason why the father of the hemiplegic boy had run away, just when the boy had turned eighteen.

A very bizarre fact that Carla and her husband had realized since the very beginning was that Luciano Mezzogori had gone one day without talking to anybody, leaving nothing in writing or no trace at all, as if he was suddenly eager to change his life leaving the past behind, and go far away and never come back.

The situation of the two remaining family members, Marco and his mother, was not plain sailing.

Since the day her husband ran away, Marisa Lavezzoli has had to take care of her hemiplegic son, and to deal with any therapy or treatment of his physical impairment, and furthermore, she has had to afford the expenses for two surgical interventions Marco underwent during the last years.

From the day Luciano Mezzogori was not along with them, the whole savings had been used for the medical treatment of Marco.

Unfortunately, her mom had never managed to gain a permanent job and always had to be “satisfied” with any small job found occasionally and at a short term, which could have helped her earning enough money to afford the living expenses for herself and her son, as well as the expenses for his medical treatment and care.

Over the years, things became even worse, and the eviction just arrived: now the mother wasn’t even able to pay the rent, which was mainly afforded by her husband before, and in the course of a month, Marisa Lavezzoli and her son were both prompted to move in the apartment where they’re actually living.

It was one of the Municipality-owned apartments that usually were given to the low-income people and it only took very little to get the apartment.

Consequently, it happened quite often that every time Marco’s aunt went to their apartment, she used to give some money to them in the hope of being used at best.

Because of hemiplegia, the boy had always with himself one orthopedic brace for the shoulders and the right arm and another one for the right leg and moreover, he regularly took the botulinum toxin for reducing the muscular tension.

Marco indeed felt enormously grateful to everyone taking care of him, though he constantly felt himself like a burden to his mother, aunt, and anyone else taking care of him.

Another person, with whom Marco had a close relation besides his mother and the aunt, was the nurse who every morning used to go to his home exactly at the wake-up time and made the botulinum toxin injections.

She always considered him as her own son and he felt deeply grateful to it.

Daniela Rossi, a middle-aged woman, was a member of the medical staff following up Marco since the day he’s been diagnosed with hemiplegia. In the very beginning, the nurses switched with each other in taking care of Marco and helping him to carry out the daily needs, then through his mother, he had expressly declared to be followed by Daniela for the whole time.

Every time the nurse showed up in the apartment, Marco’s mother usually went out and stayed alone in any other room, to avoid her presence; usually the injections made by Daniela lasted only half an hour in the morning and evening, and afterwards she used to leave and come back in the morning of the next day.

The same routine was applicable also to Andrea Fusari, the physiotherapy expert who was coaching Marco Mezzogori twice a week.

Exceptions were made only in the cases when Marisa Lavezzoli managed to find one of those small jobs at occasional basis, in which she was usually prompted to go out leaving her son alone: in such case, Ms. Rossi spent all the time with Marco until the return of his mother.

However, in some other cases, Marco used to remain alone at home, and it usually occurred when his mother considered necessary to do shopping unexpectedly.

Normally they counted on the availability of the service offered by the supermarket, it always worked out every time they’re making orders through phone calls and home delivery was made by the supermarket in return, while in the case of unplanned purchases, the mother used to go out and made shopping as quickly as possible to avoid leaving Marco alone for long hours.

The other cases when Marco used to be alone were exactly when he usually wrote on his personal diary.

He made such a decision when he had turned eighteen.

The diary was an inseparable companion of him, through the pages of which the emotions were transmitted, and he used to write down all the feelings, while sometimes he talked to it as if there was a mouth inside and it was able to speak. He recorded events from his everyday life, as well as any thought, emotion, and perception arisen to him.

Obviously, he considered the diary as a tool to give free rein to what he had inside, because he felt imposed to do so in a sort of situation which was never desirable to him.

Before sleep, he used to stay alone in his room, and turned his emotions into small letters written by him in ink.

Usually he tried to finish writing before the nurse showed up and before he laid himself on the bed, and if he couldn’t do so, she used to leave him uninterrupted while he kept writing not in a hurry, and right after writing, she began to take care of him.

II

Stefano Zamagni knew Carla Mezzogori as both lived at the same street, in a few meters of distance: he was living next to the Square Repubblica while she lived in the intersection with the first segment of the street Venezia.

The first time they’ve met was just occasional, as one day he had helped her to take a heavy box out of the car, and thus expressing his willingness to pull it up to the entrance door of the building.

He was passing by the lady’s car and immediately had offered his help seeing her in trouble.

In return, she had thanked him and then each of them had been going on their own way.

Since that day, he had met her by chance in the sidewalk and both saluted each other, and while the days passed, the police inspector had begun to get acquainted with the lady and her husband afterwards.

The relation established between Zamagni and Carla Mezzogori couldn’t be defined as a true and proper friendship, but more or less a good acquaintance by both parties.

Several times, the couple would also invite Zamagni to spend some hours in their companionship during the evening, and in return, sometimes he would bring some drink and sometimes would invite them for having breakfast at the bar.

In all conversations, they used to talk about a diverse range of topics, including the job (Carla was a state official in the post office of Bologna located in the Mazzini quarter, her husband worked in a mechanic’s shop; and they got very surprised when found that Stefano Zamagni was a police inspector), as well as the great attention Carla was paying to her nephew in particular, the bond she had established with him, and how the couple haven’t had decided so far to have kids fearing that they would have the same fate. Of course, their conversations did also tackle topics of general interest.

As far as he knew about this family situation, Zamagni was often asking Carla about the health of her nephew trying to avoid any excessive bothering to her family affairs, and in response, Carla told that his condition was more or less stable.

It was obvious that the police inspector didn’t always come up with such topic spontaneously, but he often took the chance from the lady, who was the one opening it up.

He only asked her very quickly about the boy’s health, because after all he regretted that people may suffer such experiences.

Sometimes, Carla had told him about the relationship with her sister-in-law, which she considered unsatisfactory, as well as about her brother who, many years ago, had disappeared without leaving any trace. Consequently, Zamagni could have been able to assume that the family situation was quite disadvantaged.

All such thoughts disappeared in his head while being at job place, highly involved on solving a complicated case. Among other things, he recently had experienced the unexpectable epilogue of the occurrences related to Atropos case.

Zamagni wasn’t yet able to realize the reality of things: he was committed to complete the process that seemed to be a routine investigation of the police, until a very strange and unimaginable thing occurred.

And everything ran so fast.

He was hearing with speakerphone a conversation that could have been very helpful to find the author of all those crimes, while Ema Simoni, one of his neighbors appeared nearby, bringing some food specialties she used to prepare, and exactly at this moment she distinguished the voice speaking on the other side of the phone. Meanwhile Zamagni hadn’t realized what was really happening at least for the moment, then immediately he had implied the right connections even though he couldn’t realize how it could be possible.

As far as appeared, the person speaking on the mobile phone had to do with Atropos case, but also he had to do with Daniele Santopietro, whom the inspector Zamagni had inquired in the past.

Moreover, there was the letter sent to him and those phone calls he’d received so far.

Haven’t you received yet? That means it will come very soon. Meanwhile I wanted to congratulate you, the other person had said to him, and later he had hung up in order to call him back in a few minutes.

I wanted also to let you know something else, he had added, there exists a well-known rule that everyone should see his own business, without interfering in the others’ business. I thought you were already aware, but it appears that I’m wrong.

Following the break after the conclusion of investigation on Atropos Association, Zamagni had been highly committed to find out the mysteries that laid around Daniele Santopietro, the encoded letter sent to him as well the anonymous person who had called him. Was it possible for any connection to exist between all these events? And what kind, if any?

He would take care of any single detail at the right time in collaboration with the agent Finocchi, who had always helped him until now, and similarly like Zamagni, had had to do with Daniele Santopietro in the past.

“Now I have to go out to buy a couple of things”, said Marisa Lavezzoli to her son, turning on the TV. “I’m gonna leave you alone for a while. Stay calm and watch the TV. What channel do you prefer?”

He made her realize that there was not at all important for him to choose any TV channel, as each seemed to be equal to any other.

His mother put the remote control on the table and went out. Once back home in half an hour, she found her son in the same place like before, staring at the TV, with his eyes wide open.

“You see that I wasn’t late enough?”, she said, “Now I am completely available for you. I’m gonna go to the dining room and read something over there. In case you need me, please make a call.”

The son returned with a gesture of approval and, after a while, watching TV, he felt his mother going through some pages.

The evening was also the same as always, the nurse arrived right on time to make the botulinum toxin injections while helping Marco to lie on the bed.

Once hearing the door bell, Marisa Lavezzoli put aside the papers she was reading at that moment, and hosted Daniela Rossi who spent as much time as needed to do her usual work, and afterwards she left away.

The night passed quietly until the appearance of the next morning, and the whole day did pass so.

On the following day, a tragedy occurred.

It was one of those days when Carla Mezzogori, on the way to her job place, usually stopped for a while to see her nephew and sister-in-law and, upon arrival at their house, her sister-in-law just appeared at the doorway having a face expression different from usual. The despair was clearly noticeable, the despair of such a person who has already lost everything and nothing else has been remained.

“What’s the matter, Marisa?”, Carla asked while entering the apartment, “What’s happened?”

After a while, her words have lost for a few instants because of what she saw in front of, and after taking some time to recover from the shock, asked: “How did it happen?”

The sister-in-law kept quiet for some instants before responding to such question, and then merely said these words: “I don’t really know how to explain”.

After wiping the tears streaking on her face, she kept saying: “So I did find him upon returning home. For a while, I went to buy something into the supermarket nearby, I could have been out maybe for… twenty minutes, thirty minutes at maximum.”

For an instant Carla stared at her hemiplegic nephew, lying on the floor of the dining room, and then moved close to the opened window.

“So far, do you have any rough idea what has happened here?”, asked Carla Mezzogori, in a broken voice.

“The only thing that comes to my mind is that someone could have entered the apartment through window in the attempt of robbery and has faced with Marco.”

“Did you check if you miss anything in the apartment?”

“Not yet. It didn’t come to my mind at all”, answered the sister-in-law, “I’m still shocked.”

“I think the best thing to do is to call the Police.”

“Frankly speaking, I don’t see it necessary for the moment”, she objected, “At first, I would prefer to get better from all that just happened to me.”

“As you like”, said Carla, without arguing, “however, I suggest you to call the Police so that they can start investigating as soon as possible.”

“I won’t forget to do so”, nodded the sister-in-law, unable to hide her intention to cut it short, meanwhile Carla, upon arrival at home, talked to her husband Giuseppe, who in return, advised her to inform the inspector Zamagni on this matter.

“As part of the Police Forces, Zamagni could help us more than anyone else, or even takes charge himself of the case investigation”.

His wife agreed.

While Stefano Zamagni had just finished organizing the whole documentation on his desk related to Daniele Santopietro’s case as well as the letter sent right after the conclusion of Atropos Association’s case, his cell phone began to ring.

“May I?”, asked Carla Mezzogori on the phone.

“I was just checking some stuff, anyway, never mind. Tell me please.

“Well... do you remember Marco, my hemiplegic nephew?”

Zamagni nodded.

“Last night, on my way home after work, I went to his apartment just to see him for a while, and upon arrival, I found myself in front of a scene which I wouldn’t ever wish to be.”

“What happened there?”

“It wasn’t known exactly what’s happened”, started to tell Carla Mezzogori, ”however, my sister-in-law was in tear and my nephew laid down dead on the floor. He was alone at home, this is what my sister-in-law told me. Perhaps...”

“Oh, for God’s sake! I’m so sorry”, said Zamagni to the lady after hesitating for an instant and stopping her seemingly in mid-flow. “Any clue on the cause of death? Probably he might have fallen down for some reason? Or you think it’s about an attempt of robbery?”

Even the inspector Zamagni didn’t really know how to deal with the situation that suddenly has come upon him.

“Seeing that the window was open, one assumption, though not reliable enough, is the robbery attempt. My sister-in-law will check if she misses something in her apartment, and I guess she has just did it last night or will do it today. She confessed to me that first of all, she would need to get over the shock occurred to her all of a sudden.”

“I got it”, replied Zamagni.

“If there has been a robbery attempt, for sure the perpetrator will be accused for murder. Isn’t it so?”, asked Carla Mezzogori.

“Yes, sure, if it comes out that such assumption is true”, returned the inspector, without taking any position.

“Would you be willing, I mean you and your colleagues, to go there and make an inspection onsite?”

“Frankly speaking, I am a little busy with some other tasks, but however, I will do a favor to you, as my friend, and will go right now to see the situation over there”, nodded Zamagni with a gesture of approval, “It is truly important that nobody should spoil anything in the apartment, although my impression is that the crime scene has been already stepped in, though unintentionally.”

“Yeah, probably”, said the woman, “I’m afraid that my sister-in-law has touched any object or thing in the apartment.”

“That’s clear. In such a situation, I believe it will be very difficult for anyone who will be in charge of this case, to succeed in capturing the perpetrator.”

“I have no idea what you’re gonna decide to do next, however thanks for your attention and involvement.”

“I will do my best, but I can ensure you nothing”, was the answer of Zamagni who, after hanging up the phone, went to inform captain Luzzi for his absence in office due to a sudden incident happened.