SALVE ROMA! A Felidae Novel - By Akif Pirincci Page 0,60
this figure becoming violent. So only God knows if he really is the killer of the poor souls in the mass grave.«
»You can bet your head on that, Blixa!« I yelled, as I just totally boiled over now. I was upset with the tricky situation, with myself because I – as it turned out – didn’t make any progress, most of all with this blood thirsty bastard though, who even in a construct of theories always found a loophole. I didn’t even know his motive. Maybe I was upset with God, who didn’t even manage to save us from such nameless horror in his own state.
»Only God knows who the killer is«, I went on in an angry voice. »But I already know with a certainty of 150 per cent that this dark figure can not be the killer. Wounds like that, caused by surgical devices, cannot be caused by animals of our size and mass. Somebody surgically meddled with these bodies!«
»But why are you suddenly so upset, Francis?« Miracolo said. He looked at me both puzzled and reproving. As I turned around I noticed that all of the others gave me the same kind of look. A plummet of shame and guilt pressed on my head and squeezed me down. I forced a smile.
»Because I had already built myself a theory with a human being playing the killer’s role, and now there comes this suspicious dark figure and ruins everything«, I replied.
»Like you already said, my son, evil has many faces, and it has the power to change its appearance. Trust in God, he will guide you to the right trail.«
This guy really had a divine sense of humor!
»Right, right, Excellency«, I said in a voice that sounded pretty resigned. »Hopefully, God hurries a little, before even more bite the dust.«
I turned my attention to the group again.
»One last question to all of you. Did the victims have anything in common? I mean, maybe a passion or a habit only they had? Or maybe they had special skills? For example, did they have sharp ears or something like that?«
Again it was Blixa, whose chocolate face slowly began to percolate something indefinite. She thought and thought, and the longer she did the more luster got into her copper eyes.
»I can be wrong«, she finally said, »but I actually noticed two common features in those four. First of all, they were very young, they had just reached puberty. And then they, how shall I put it ...«
»... made their marks with acrobatic stunts«, I finished the sentence for her. »They even were capable of rotating their own axis a couple of times and then landing on four paws.«
»Exactly!« she uttered. »How do you know that?«
»Giovanni«, I replied. »But that again is a different matter.«
Shortly before we reached the chapel, I noticed how a priest in a long monastic garment hobblingly scurried past us and disappeared through an old door that reminded me of a simple stable hatch. Everything went so fast that the others didn’t even notice it. Turned out they weren’t interested in such sensitive observations anyway. Because in front of the chapel so many plates with delicious food had been arranged that I could hardly count them. The Vatican colleagues brisk up to the delicacies like pilgrims to the bread at the Easter mass. Quickly a cordon of fur had emerged in front of the chapel, and hadn’t it been for the up and down of the heads that greedily sank on the plates, one could have mistaken the view for an edgy arrangement of flowerbeds. While I contained myself at first and in my mind struggled with wild speculations on motive and offender, it was impossible for my empty stomach not to murmur at the sight of such tempting food. Suddenly I realized that indeed I hadn’t eaten anything in a quite a while. Thus, I quickly joined the others and gulped down the delicious pieces of meat with sauce at a record time.
After the last plate had been licked clean, the community members gradually left the area in all directions. First they cordially said goodbye to me though and adjured me to find the offender of the massacre at all cost. Their wish was my command. Everyone left – except for Miracolo. Thoughtfully, he gazed after his sheep, which eventually disappeared in the distance.
»Was the funeral meal to your liking, Francis?« he wanted to know.