Chapter 1
The swim. The morning ritual that creates peace for Montalbano. It creates a moment of mental clarity. This morning the water was colder than normal, but the purity was the same. All of a sudden, Montalbano heard a monstrous noise, like a horn from the depths of the sea. The din was followed by an incomprehensible yell at a pitch that shattered the glassy sea.
"Eh, genius, you think you can just park there?! What does this look like to you? Yer freaken driveway?! Move it!"
Salvo woke with a jolt. He was not in the calm of the Mediterranean Sea. He was in a hotel three blocks from Times Square, New York, New York, USA.
"Really," he thought, "this is coffee? It's not right to get so worked up over this brown water."
Without a good cup of coffee, the day would be excruciatingly long. Montalbano left the Starbucks and spied a police car in front of the hotel. The driver scrutinized the crowd and when he saw Montalbano, he nodded his head. It was his ride.
After the rides with Galluzzo driving, this trip was tranquil and very relaxing.
The station was nothing like the one in Vigàta. The building, a brick monument from the thirties, was in a state of flux with human traffic constantly coming and going, some in uniforms, some in handcuffs, and some in tears. The grey atrium was dominated by a metal detector and two officers. After the security station, it was a brief trip in the elevator to arrive at the third floor: Homicide.
The whole floor was covered in desks stacked with paper and on every desk, a computer, fairly new, but already obsolete. In the right corner there was a group of four people, three men and one woman. The woman was thin and tall but athletic, with brown hair and a jacket of brown leather. The group was studying a whiteboard with a photograph and a few lines of text. The photo was of Piero the Gypsy, an infamous captain of the Aquini mafia family. Piero was the newest resident of the 12th precinct's morgue. He was the reason why Montalbano was in New York.
The group of four turned when Montalbano got close. The woman held out her hand and as she shook Montalbano's, she began the introduction.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Detective Kate Beckett and this is Richard Castle, murder mystery writer. Welcome to New York and the NYPD."