arguing but they both stood to attention when they saw Petrov.
“What happened?”
“He went for his gun sir.”
“Did he make a radio call?”
“No.”
“Let us hope he didn’t radio his whereabouts before he came here. You two! Get rid of the body. You,” Petrov said to the man with the drill, “Get rid of that police car.”
“Yes Anatoly. What should I do with it?”
“For now put it in the hangar with the Hummers. You’ve killed a policeman,” Petrov said, looking out of the window, “They will come looking for him.”
CHAPTER NINE
De Luca entered his office at 8.30am to a telephone ringing on his desk. He picked it up.
“Sir it’s Mario,” the person on the other end said.
“Ferrara! What are you calling the office number for?” De Luca asked his assistant.
“I’ve tried your home number and mobile sir but you weren’t answering.”
De Luca took his mobile out of his pocket. It was still on silent from the night before.
“My parents-in-law were round for dinner last night so I put it on silent. Must have forgot to put the sound back on this morning. What’s up?”
“We’ve had a report that an officer has gone missing.”
“Gone missing?”
“Yes sir. A Gianni Balotelli. He’s with the traffic division.”
“What do you mean gone missing?”
“Well sir his wife has telephoned the station to say that he didn’t come home last night. He’s also failed to report for duty this morning. He hasn’t returned his car to the pool either.”
“Is he known for not turning up?”
“No sir. First time in eight years.”
De Luca thought about the possibilities.
“I expect he’s got a mistress somewhere and has overslept.”
”Possibly sir. I suggested that to his wife sir and she uh….Well she wasn’t very happy with that response. I won’t tell you exactly what she said to me sir but I was surprised at the language.”
“I see,” De Luca said, “Well give him more time. He may show up yet. Twenty four hours remember before someone is missing.”
“That’s what I told division sir but they asked us to look into it.”
“Can’t they get uniformed officers to investigate it. After all he is one of theirs.”
“I did ask sir but they said they didn’t have any leads.”
“Well look I don’t know that there is much we can do. If we just look into it will that be enough.”
“I assume so sir.”
“Very well,” De Luca said, “Get me his home telephone number. I’ll speak to the wife. What’s her name?”
“Maria.”
“I’ll speak to Maria. In the meantime you find out what area he patrols and find out his last reported position. If known. Meet me out front in….say….” De Luca looked at his watch, “Fifteen minutes.”
De Luca put the receiver back and set his telephone to answer phone. A message came through on his mobile. It was Balotelli’s home number and he selected options, extracted the numbers and dialled them. The telephone at the other end answered almost immediately.
“Maria?”
“Si.”
“Maria. My name is Cesare De Luca. I am a detective inspector with the Vatican police. I understand you wish to report your husband, a policeman of the Carabinieri, missing.”
“Yes,” she replied. De Luca thought she sounded close to tears.
“Has your husband ever done anything like this before?”
“No he hasn’t. He’s a good man. A good husband and father.”
“Maria please try to remain calm. Can you tell me when you last saw him.”
“Yesterday morning. He left for work at 8 o’clock. He kissed the children goodbye and then myself. He always does,” she continued whilst choking back the sobs. “I just want him home.”
“Yes I understand Mrs Balotelli. Please try not to get upset. I would like to assure you that we are doing everything we can to locate him. I know this is probably the wrong thing to say to you right now but we would not treat a person as missing until 24 hours has passed. Not even one of our own.”
De Luca heard her sobbing again.
“I truly understand how you feel Maria. I’m sure there is a perfectly logical reason to your husband’s whereabouts. Is there any family or friends he may have stayed with overnight?”
“No. I’ve tried them all. Everyone I can think of. He’s never done this before in six years of marriage.”
“Is there anything else you can think of to help us Mrs Balotelli.”
“I can think of nothing.”
“I understand. As I said I’m sure there is a perfectly good reason as to why he didn’t come home last night….Probably a mistress,” De Luca was thinking. He decided not to tell her about the