Viper - Michael Morley [107]
Jack rubbed his chin. ‘How many kills between them all?’
Lorenzo snorted and walked into the light so he could read all the name boxes and do the maths. ‘Finger in the air, just guessing?’
‘Sure.’
‘These guys cover thirty, forty years of Camorra activity between them. All of them have made their bones. The old-timers will have planted between five and ten apiece, the younger bucks two to five. So – in direct personal kills – I’d guess at a minimum of fifty, though they’ll have been involved in plenty more. In the past thirty years, countrywide, we connect the Camorra to close on four thousand kills. These guys will have done their quota.’
The projector whirred noisily as they all weighed up the death toll. Jack voiced what was on their minds. ‘You know this clan; you understand its values, norms and rules. If they discovered they had a serial murderer in their midst, one who killed just for kicks, and targeted innocent civilians, would they give him up?’
Lorenzo laughed. ‘Not a hope. And, for the record, they don’t have any values – except get rich quick and kill anything that gets in the way.’
‘I agree,’ said Sylvia. ‘If they found such a person, then they’d probably kill him. They don’t like undue publicity so they’d get rid of him. But their contempt for us is so profound they would bury the body rather than give him up.’
Jack pointed at the organization chart. ‘Bruno Valsi – from what you know of him, do you think he was personally involved in the torture and murder of Alberta Tortoricci?’
Lorenzo didn’t hesitate. ‘No doubt about it. If he didn’t do it himself, then you can be sure he had a front-row seat, a bag of popcorn and a giant Pepsi. All the intel on him says he’s a Grade A sadist, and a clever one too.’
‘And he was jailed five years ago, and just got out?’
Lorenzo nodded.
Sylvia completed the picture. ‘And most of our women went missing five or more years ago. We’ve dug around and can’t find anyone linking Valsi and the women. Would be good to get to speak to the man himself – and his father-in-law?’
‘I’ve got numbers for their lawyer, Mazerelli. You want me to give him a ring?’
‘Thanks, that would be good.’ Sylvia let out an ironic laugh. ‘I’m just thinking about Franco Castellani. Until the Sorrentino killing he looked good for the murders. Now, if you compare him to Valsi and this mob, he doesn’t fit. He’s like a frightened kid.’
‘Maybe that’s exactly what he is,’ said Jack. ‘That’d explain why he’s run away. Everything in life just got too much for him.’
‘He’s a frightened kid with a gun, though,’ said Lorenzo. ‘That still makes him dangerous. Maybe even deadly.’
‘True,’ agreed Sylvia. For a second she wondered how Lorenzo knew about Franco having a gun. Then she realized it had probably been on the APB she’d sent out.
The room lights buzzed into life as Lorenzo killed the projector. ‘I’ll phone Mazerelli,’ he said, heading for the door.
‘Hang on,’ called Jack, worrying about how long they could get dicked about by a mob lawyer. ‘I think I might have a better suggestion.’
77
Capo di Posillipo, La Baia di Napoli
Three carabinieri Fiats sped Jack, Sylvia and Lorenzo through the slow evening traffic and across the Bay of Naples. ‘Not exactly good for our global footprint, but impressive nevertheless,’ observed Jack as they travelled together in the middle car. He figured a surprise visit to the Finelli home – the Viper’s Nest – was more likely to get results than a polite request to their smart-arse lawyer. ‘Always better to apologize than ask permission,’ he said as they wound their way out towards Capo di Posillipo.
Most of the case got discussed en route, including the post-mortem burning of Alberta Tortoricci and the ante-mortem burning of the still unidentified woman in the pit at the Castellani campsite. ‘It’s probably