Viper - Michael Morley [114]
The major had already been in for more than an hour. A childless marriage in his late twenties had ended in divorce in his early forties. Now work was all he had left.
They made little small talk and got straight down to business – Bruno Valsi’s criminal record and his family history.
‘Take a look at these.’ Lorenzo dropped the rap sheet and briefing notes in front of Jack. ‘Valsi was a real problem kid in a real problem area. You want caffè?’
‘Sure – whatever you’ve got. Espresso, if possible, please.’
Lorenzo fired up an ancient Gaggia in the corner of his office. ‘Valsi’s father died in some industrial accident, when he was a baby. His mother brought him up on her own.’
‘Anything more on his father’s death?’
‘Not much. I can dig around and find the full details. I know a boiler blew. One of those decrepit gas and oil combination jobs. It exploded and old man Valsi and two of his workmates died in a fire at the back of the factory.’
Jack digested the facts. Could such a tragedy become a future trigger for offending? He certainly couldn’t rule it out. Was there a tenuous link there with fire and suffering?
Lorenzo shovelled freshly ground Arabica into the machine and sniffed at the last teaspoon before closing the container. ‘Valsi lived most of his life in Scampia, an area that’s been a Camorra stronghold for as long as I can remember. It’s the kind of place that brands you, inks a tattoo on your soul. Tortoricci’s body was found less than a kilometre from where Valsi was born.’
‘Stupid question, but Forensics didn’t find anything to link Valsi to the woman or the body?’
‘Not a thing. I had the labs run comparison tests with Valsi’s fingerprints, his DNA profile and all the trace evidence. I’ve also asked for his dabs and DNA to be checked against all the trace evidence in the Castellani campsite murders. So far, nothing.’
Jack wasn’t surprised. Thugs as brutal as Valsi were usually careful thugs. He flicked through more of the rap sheet. ‘Back in his early childhood, he was arrested several times but never charged. We talking routine stop and search, or was he lawyered-up even then?’
Lorenzo laughed. ‘Camorra do that. For the good kids, they treat them good, get them top briefs. Other kids, the ones they don’t want, they disown, let them get wasted. The cream of the crop are looked after, though. They make them feel protected and have them back on the streets before Sesame Street has finished. Valsi was cream – crème de la crème. He ran “errands” and pushed drugs before he even pushed a bike. But prior to the big witness intimidation case that put him away, we never got a mark against him.’
‘A boy soldier?’
‘Sì, piciotto. The Camorra has armies of them across Campania. They rope in kids like Valsi and soon they’re willing to kill in return for a new Vespa. Children are the cheapest contract killers you can hire.’
Jack read the sheet again. Assault against a male – charges dropped. Assault against three other men – charges dropped. ‘These aborted charges – we talking fists or weapons?’
‘Early ones were fists. Street fights, bar fights. Polizia did catch him with a weapon once. A semi-automatic. Beretta, I think. They even got as far as charging him.’
‘And?’
Lorenzo smiled. ‘The gun disappeared before the ink had even dried on the crime sheet. No evidence, no case. They never even got it in front of a magistrate.’
‘I understand. We’ve got our share of bent cops back home.’
‘Hasn’t everyone?’ He tapped the rap sheet. ‘Gets even more interesting as he gets older. In his late teens, he wounded a guy. It was the father of a girl he was dating. Old man had had a few drinks and told Valsi he should stay away from his daughter, said she deserved better than drug-dealing scum like him. Valsi beat him senseless and then left him on a kitchen seat with a knife through his pants and a testicle pinned to the chair.’
Jack couldn’t help but grimace.