Emanuele Stefanori & Michela Guida, translated into English by Ruth Stephens
Chapter 3 – The Dinner
“Scartoffio! Here, quick!”
Inspector Benvenga calls the police officer into his office to take down Signor Malintesi’s statement.
“At your service, Inspector!” The officer comes in, sits down and inserts a sheet of paper into the typewriter.
“So, what you’re saying is a man has been killed at the Travellers’ Restaurant,” says the inspector. “When did it happen?”
“As I said, Inspector, we got to the restaurant around 8.15pm. There were already a lot of people there, in fact it was almost full. The only free table was at the end of the room. The waiter brought the menu and we gave him our order. I chose the house starter and a steak while my wife ordered chickpea soup and…”
“Ok, that’s not important….. carry on,” interrupts the inspector.
While Signor Malintesi talks, his wife sits in silence with a hand on her forehead.
“Oh yes, I was saying…. when they brought our food we heard a shout. We looked across the room and saw a man with a knife in his back and his face on the table. It was a horrible sight, Inspector!”