The Discordant Note Page 3

  Germano decided he would have later had a small talk with that boy.

  The video was walking wearily towards the time when Brandenburg was supposed to have been murdered, when a strange thing caught the attention of the two policemen.

  From the entrance of the driveway, they could clearly see someone stopping, quite decided, right in front of the intercom of the Master’s house.

  Germano tried to get even closer to the video but he was forced to turn back by the sudden arrival of Gianni Piazza in his office.

  It seemed to him that the inspector was almost out of breath as he prepared to speak, something which he did not succeed in doing, because stopped with sweeping gestures by the commissioner himself.

  At that point, realizing how his colleagues were looking at something interesting, Piazza refrained from opening his mouth and approached the two.

  Germano did not wait too long to involve the colleague in the discussion.

  “What do you think it is, Piazza?”.

  “It seems to me, Commissioner, that a young and rather thin boy called on the Master’s intercom twenty minutes before he died, at least if the time that I see on the display matches the real one”.

  “The time is not offset, just ... it is not that clear ... but if you could send it back and review the pictures ... I had the feeling that the way he walked was not that of a boy”.

  “But the clothing, Commissioner ... jeans and T-shirt, short hair and a cap on his head ... heck, it looks like a boy”.

  At that point, Germano turned to Parisi asking him to send the tape forward as fast as possible; the images then speeded up to the moment they saw the gardener climbing over the fence and starting his work, followed after one hour by the same commissioner, who rushed to the crime scene after being awakened by Inspector Parisi’s phone call.

  They were not able to see what they were not so sure if it was a boy or a girl, while exiting the main gate it , not before nor after the arrival of Germano and the policemen.

  The three, at that point, sent the tape forward even more, carefully examining every face, shape and shadow that was wandering around the house during the police operations that followed the discovery of the body, but there was no trace of the “boy”.

  Who broke that silence was Inspector Parisi.

  “Maybe he blended into the crowd that arrived shortly after lunch time and so he was able to go away without being noticed ...”.

  “It 's possible, Angelo ... maybe he has been holed up inside the house waiting for the right moment to slip away ... or maybe it could have escaped bypassing the other fence, the one that lies on the other side of the house and which is not covered by any camera”.

  “This is also possible, Vincent”.

  “Anyway, let’s send a copy of this video to those in the know and ask them to enlarge all the details related to this guy, with the best definition they can get, will you deal with it, Angelo?”.

  “Okay”.

  “Piazza ... sorry but I was ...”.

  “Don’t worry ... I came here, Commissioner, because I have something new as well”.

  “Tell me”.

  “I found two phone calls, quite long, the Master received from Germany; the first one dating back almost a year ago, while the second one is in February, this year”.

  “Satisfy my curiosity, Piazza ... What area of ​​Germany did they come from?”.

  “Monaco of Bavaria, I have already alerted our German colleagues to know where it was headed and who is the user ... is there something I don’t know and I should, sir?”.

  “Indeed, yes, the letters that Brandenburg received from Germany came from Monaco of Bavaria, as well; the interpreter confirmed it by examining the postmarks”.

  “Well then, at least there's something to work on”.

  “Yeah ...”.

  Germano did not show himself that enthusiastic; the idea, indeed, that the investigation spreads more and more, even to be carried out abroad, could not do anything but increase the concern of the commissioner on the success of the whole thing.

  After making ​​the point about the duties of each of the two inspectors, they left the commissioner alone and returned to their offices; Germano, before dismissing them for good, wrote down the orders for their dinner, which he would have ordered at the restaurant across the street, asking for the dinner to be delivered at his home.

  Once left alone, he sank to a light sleep and reflections on the lives of people like Master Brandenburg.

  The commissioner was starting to know his eclectic neighbor, perhaps, only now, after he had died, but from the few details of his life that had managed to emerge in those few hours, the peculiarity of the existence of a great musician, was clear enough. Although he had avoided mentioning it to his colleagues, it happened already a couple of times during the day that Germano, in fact, believed he knew what was going to happen, but in both the circumstances he had to change his mind; the facts in question were not details of such an importance, if seen in the general context of the investigation, but enough to make the commissioner realize that he dad to prepare himself to further revelations and surprises once he would have penetrated deeper into Brandenburg’s life.

  Germano’s thoughts gradually gave away to a sleep that lasted for at least a couple of hours, until he was awakened by the sharp blow of someone knocking on his door .

  “Come in”.

  The inspectors Piazza and Parisi came in and went back to sit on the same chairs they used before; by their looks, Germano realized that they had not come empty-handed.

  The first to break that silence was Parisi.

  “First of all, Commissioner, I proceeded to send those images to the specialists; I was also able to speak to some of them”.

  “And what do they say?”.

  “They say they'll try ... but we should not expect too much, the resolution of the camera is pretty poor as well as the fact that the sun was contrary”.

  “They can’t?”.

  “I don’t know, Vincent, they said they will try”.

  “I understand ... I guess there is something else you have to

  add ...”.

  “Yeah ... Alitalia has confirmed to me that Master Brandenburg has flown with them twice in the last year and ...”.

  The commissioner interrupted Parisi with a wave of his hand to ask the other inspector, Gianni Piazza, the exact dates of two phone calls the Master received from Germany.

  “The first was made August 12th last year, Commissioner”.

  “Well, and the first flight was?”.

  “On September 1st , Vincent; then, there was another one he took on February 27th of this year; I’m not telling you where the two flights were headed to ... I guess you have already got it”.

  “Monaco of Bavaria?”

  “Yeah”.

  “Nothing to add, Piazza?”.

  “Yes, Commissioner, the German police called me a few minutes ago to update me on the user’s identity of the telephone from which the call left; the holder is Helena Singer, a resident of Monaco, in Kirchenstraße 11”.

  “Do we know anything about her?”.

  “Not yet, they didn’t tell me more on the phone; actually, I had the impression that they were hoping that the name itself told something to us ...”.

  “Yeah ... Meanwhile, let’s try something ... tomorrow morning, one of you will have to get in touch with the municipality of Grottaferrara in order to know if there are cameras shooting on the main road; I think it is traffic police’s jurisdiction, but it is better to ask both of them. After that, you will deal with the private citizens and businesses, anyone who has installed any video surveillance system must allow us to see the recordings; if someone starts to do the difficult, I'll make sure to have a written authorization by the Judicial for tomorrow morning, is that clear?”.

  The two inspectors nodded almost in unison and Germano hinted a smile.

  The commissioner then lit a cigarette and, almost
immediately, resumed the conversation.

  “Another important thing to do is to investigate about the names written in this agenda that I have right now in my hands. I gave it a quick glance in the afternoon and I noticed that the Master used to write down only the times of the various lessons that he kept during the day and the names of his students, but not the last names if it was not strictly necessary, for instance when there were cases of homonymy; in this case, he used to add the first letter of the last name next to the name itself”.

  “I’ve a curiosity, Commissioner”.

  “Tell me, Piazza”.

  “If this man did not use the phone nor the e-mailbox, how the hell did he keep in touch with the students? Not to mention how he managed to find them ...”.

  “We should find out, we have to be prepared to surprises, guys!”.

  “I would have a couple of questions, actually, Vincent”.

  “Tell me, Angelo”.

  “The first concerns Brandenburg’s livelihood, you knew him, maybe you already know what income he had ...”.

  “Let's just say that even if we stopped a few times to talk, I do not really know all the details of his life; to this point, a couple of calls to the bank and to the Income Revenue, I think should be worth ... what is the second question, Angelo?”.

  “It was about you, Vincent ... not that I want to pry your own business but I was curious to know what you are going to do, if we will take care of all these matters ...”.

  “Um ... I bet that before, when you contacted Alitalia, you also asked if there was an empty seat on one of their planes to Monaco tomorrow, didn’t you?”.

  Inspector Parisi made a half smile, waiting for Vincent Germano to go on with his speech.

  “ ... You’ll call the airline again and confirm my presence on the first flight; you’ll also book the return ticket but without specifying the date of return since I don’t know how long it will take”.

  “Okay, Vincent, I can already tell you that the first flight takes off at 8:00 am tomorrow morning, and then, calculating the time you’ll need for the check in and the other procedures ... I should pick you up around 5.00, that means within less than four hours”.

  “You were the best in mathematics, weren’t you, Angelo?”.

  The collective irony was momentarily interrupted by the other inspector.

  “For this reason, Commissioner ...”.

  “Tell me, Piazza”.

  “I have a contact ... an official of German Police of Monaco, that we can consider our representative; it's called Theodor Kaiser and also told me that, if you want, you can call even now to make arrangements”.

  “It is midnight ...”.

  “Yes, but he is doing the night shift and told me that a phone call will not disturb him”.

  “The Germans are always the Germans ... about you, Piazza, had you already guessed where I was going to go?”.

  “We’ve come to know you ...”.

  “Well then, now let me go home, I’m about to collapse ... and I was kindly reminded by the present Parisi here, that within less than five hours I'll be back on my feet. I'll call Theodor Kaiser directly from my house”.

  The three greeted with pats on their shoulders and commending one another to keep up to date during the whole stay of the commissioner in Germany.

  Saturday, July 6th

  The plane with Vincent Germano on board, landed at the international airport of Monaco of Bavaria at nine twenty-fifth of that same summer morning.

  According to the agreements reached on the previous evening, as soon as he had come out the big glass door beyond which the various passengers are awaited, the commissioner would have to look for three men wearing a black and green uniform.

  Germano spotted them with some difficulty but he finally recognized them; while approaching them, he also noted a fourth man, much shorter than the other three and dressed in civilian clothes. It was this forth man who led the group to the Italian commissioner; once they got face to face, they introduced themselves with a firm handshake; the man in civilian clothes turned out to be Theodor Kaiser.

  “Good morning, Germano, was the trip to your liking?”.

  “Just call me Vincent ... anyway ... yes, everything went smoothly; sorry Kaiser, may I ask a question?”.

  “It’s my turn to scold you now, Vincent ... call me Theodor”.

  “Theodor, okay ... I noticed that your agents are all around six feet tall, all in perfect shape and with the same haircut ... are they already this way when they come to you to join up or it is you who shape them in this way?”.

  “Ahahah, Vincent, you Italians are always joking ... but now we’d better go, one of our service car is already waiting out here”.

  “Yes, Theodor, let's move ... this will not be a holiday for me, unfortunately”.

  The three men in uniform got into the first car, a three-door car with a few years on its shoulders but perfectly intact and working, while the two commissioners got into a German sedan from the Police Department of Monaco.

  Germano sat in the passenger seat while his German colleague sat at the head of the powerful sedan; during the first fifteen minutes of the journey to the police station, there was not the slightest exchange between the two, Germano continued to look out of the window in an almost blank way.

  “Excuse me, Vincent ... a few minutes passed since I'm wondering what you are watching so interesting not to say a single word ... after all you only see buildings and workers, there is also some nice park, for goodness sake, but nothing comparable to the views of your Venice or the Amalfi Coast”.

  “This is true, Theodor, but looking out I had the impression that everything has its own logic, its own way, which certainly can not be said of our beloved Italy”.

  “I don’t really know if it’s just like you say, Vincent, maybe there is a logic and a sense in your country as well, I am sure that there is, but I get the impression that you Italians are always too much focused to see your glass half empty, aren’t you?”.

  “Maybe you're right, Theodor ...”.

  “Ehehehe ... anyway, we're almost arrived to your hotel, Vincent”.

  The hotel Germano had chosen for his stay in the German land was in Corneliusstraße, in the central area of the city; it was, apparently, rather spartan and functional, exactly what he needed.

  Theodor Kaiser, having neatly parked the service car, went with his colleague into the building, until they reached the small reception; while Germano was filling some forms and giving his own identity card to the receptionist, there was a quick exchange of words, in German of course, between Kaiser and the front desk guy, during which Kaiser informed him about the identity of the young Italian commissioner.

  At that point, Germano was invited to go up to the second floor and to store his luggage in the room that he had been assigned; an operation which took no more than fifteen minutes, after which he went back to Theodor Kaiser, who had been patiently waiting sitting on one of the sofas in the narrow hall. They went together out of the hotel and headed towards the police station.

  This time the drive was instead full of exchanges between the two police officers; Theodor Kaiser tried to educate Vincent Germano on some German customs and traditions, providing him some A4 papers, he had prepared before, on which there were some of the most common German expressions, in order to make easier for his Italian colleague at least to make simple things such as ordering a coffee at the bar.

  Once they arrived to the police station, the two commissioners, after a quick greeting to the men of the guard, immediately went to Theodor Kaiser’s personal office.

  It was Theodor to start a new conversation.

  “I reserved a room here where you will work in peace, Vincent; it is not that big but there’s everything you could need, a computer connected to the Internet, a telephone, a fax machine and a desk. It is not that much but I thought that it could be enough since you’re not going to stay for a long time ...”.

  �
��You don’t need to justify yourself, Theodor, you’re offering a lot more than I would have expected”.

  “Let's say ... yesterday, as you can imagine, I had to anticipate

  Ms. Helena Singer you’ll go to visit her; of course I didn’t take the liberty to ask questions that relate in any way to your investigation, but when I told her about you ... I don’t know, I had the impression that she was happy ... Ms. Singer is a very prominent character in our city”.

  “So she already knew about Master Brandenburg’s death?”.

  “Yes, I have called her early this morning but I think she already knew the fact, at least since yesterday afternoon; you see ... Ralf Brandenburg was very popular here, he composed the musical scores for many dramas that have made the fortune of the German television”.

  “I understand ... however, I didn’t give you all the details last night on the phone , Theodor, but now that I'm here it's different”.

  “Well, Vincent, tell me something I don’t know yet”.

  “The real problem is that we do not even know where to start the investigation ... it seems, at least at a first analysis, that the Master did not have a common way of communicating with others, the one we Westerners are accustomed to, I mean the technological one that leave many traces that allow you to always have someone or something to investigate on; he used to communicate only by handwritten letters, the only traces that we were able to find so far are those two phone calls with Ms. Singer and some letters written in German and signed by someone called Corinna, that’s why we had nothing to do but search something to work on directly here in Germany”.

  “I can not blame you, Vincent ... in any case, I've already had a look at our archives to see if there was anything due to Ralf Brandenburg, but there was nothing, and considering that he moved to Italy almost thirty years ago, it is not a surprise to me”.

  “It fits with the data in our possession ... I think the only thing I can do is talk to people who knew him, hoping to draw something from them”.