The Beretta Px4 compact pistol is slightly larger than a mobile phone, weighs around seven hundred grams, and can fire ten shots. It is small, light, invisible when carried in a pocket, and its small caliber has one enormous advantage: instead of passing through the victims body, the bullet hits bones and smashes everything in its path.
Obviously, the chances of surviving a shot of that caliber are fairly high; there are thousands of cases in which no vital artery was severed and the victim had time to react and disarm his attacker. However, if the person firing the pistol is experienced enough, he can opt either for a quick deathby aiming at the point between the eyes or at the heartor for a slower oneby placing the barrel at a certain angle close to the ribs and squeezing the trigger. The person shot takes a while to realize that he has been mortally wounded and tries to fight back, run away, or call for help. The great advantage of this is that the victim has time to see his killers face, while his strength ebbs slowly away and he falls to the ground, with little external loss of blood, still not fully understanding why this is happening to him.
It is far from being the ideal weapon for experts. Nice and lightin a ladys handbag. No stopping power though, someone in the British Secret Service tells James Bond in the first film in the series, meanwhile confiscating Bonds old pistol and handing him a new model. However, that advice applied only to professionals, and for what he now had in mind it was perfect.
He had bought the Beretta on the black market so that it would be impossible to trace. There are five bullets in the magazine, although he intends to use only one, the tip of which he has marked with an X, using a nail file. That way, when its fired and hits something solid, it will break into four pieces.
He will only use the Beretta as a last resort. There are other ways of extinguishing a world, of destroying a universe, and she will probably understand the message as soon as the first victim is found. She will know that he did it in the name of love, and that he feels no resentment, but will take her back and ask no questions about her life during these past two years.
He hopes that six months of careful planning will produce results, but he will only know for sure tomorrow morning. His plan is to allow the Furies, those ancient figures from Greek mythology, to descend on their black wings to that blue-and-white landscape full of diamonds, Botox, and high-speed cars of no use to anyone because they carry only two passengers. With the little artifacts he has brought with him, all those dreams of power, success, fame, and money could be punc- tured in an instant.
He could have gone up to his room because the scene he had been waiting to witness occurred at 11:11 p.m. , although he would have been prepared to wait for even longer. The man and his beautiful companion arrivedboth of them in full evening dressfor yet another of those gala events that take place each night after every important supper, and which attracted more people than any film premiere at the Festival.
Igor ignored the woman. He shielded his face behind a French news- paper (a Russian newspaper would have aroused suspicions) so that she wouldnt see him. An unnecessary precaution: like all women who feel themselves to be queen of the world, she never looked at anyone else. Such women are there in order to shine and always avoid looking at what other people are wearing because, even if their own clothes and accessories have cost them a fortune, the number of diamonds or a par-
ticularly exclusive outfit worn by someone else might make them feel depressed or bad-tempered or inferior.
Her elegant, silver-haired companion went over to the bar and or- dered champagne, a necessary aperitif for a night that promised new contacts, good music, and a fine view of the beach and the yachts moored in the harbor.
He noticed how extremely polite the man was, thanking the wait- ress when she brought their drinks and giving her a large tip.
The three of them knew each other. Igor felt a great wave of happi- ness as the adrenaline began to mingle with his blood. The following day he would make her