Read IM10 August Heat (2008) for Free Online

you’d have to do is install the internal and external casings, which are stacked in the living room, and you could move right in! There’s even running water! And the electrical system is all ready to be hooked up! What I don’t understand is why they buried everything underground.”
    Montalbano, for his part, had a very precise idea of why they’d done it.
    “I think I know why. I’m sure they were originally granted a permit for a house without an upstairs. But the owner, in league with the builder and the work foreman, had the house built exactly the way we see it now. Then he had the ground floor completely covered with sandy soil, so that only the upstairs remained visible, turning it into the ground floor.”
    “Yes, but why did he do it?”
    “He was waiting for amnesty on code violations. The moment the government approved it, he would remove all the dirt covering the other apartment overnight, then put in his request for amnesty. Otherwise he risked having the whole thing demolished, even though that’s very unlikely around here.”
    The fire chief started laughing.
    “Demolished? Around here there are entire towns built illegally!”
    “Yes, but I found out that the owner lived in Germany. It’s possible he forgot about our wonderful ancient customs and thought that people respected the law here the way they do in Cologne.”
    The fire chief looked unconvinced.
    “Okay, but this government has granted one amnesty after another! Why, then—”
    “I found out he died a few years ago.”
    “What should we do? Put everything back the way it was?”
    “No, leave everything just the way it is now. Could that create any problems?”
    “For the upstairs, you mean? No, none whatsoever.”
    “I want to show this fine handiwork to the owner of the agency that rented out the house.”
    Left alone, the inspector took a shower, dried himself off in the sun, then got dressed. He grabbed another bottle of beer. He had worked up a serious appetite. What was taking the gang so long?
    “Hello, Livia? Are you still in the emergency room?”
    “No, we’re on our way. Bruno’s fine, there’s nothing wrong with him.”
    He hung up and dialed the number of Enzo’s trattoria.
    “Montalbano here. I know it’s late and you’re about to close, but if I came with a party of four plus a little kid, think we could still get something to eat?”
    “For you, Inspector, we’re always open.”
     
     
     
    As always happens, the narrow escape made everyone so giddy and ravenous that Enzo, hearing them laughing and eating nonstop as if they’d just broken a weeklong fast, asked what they were celebrating. Bruno acted as if he’d been bitten by a tarantula, continually jumping about, knocking first the cutlery off the table, then a glass that luckily didn’t break, and, last, spilling a bottle of olive oil all over Montalbano’s pants. For a brief moment the inspector regretted having been so quick to pull him out of that hole in the ground. But he immediately felt guilty for having the thought.When everyone had finished eating, Livia and her friends drove back to Pizzo. Montalbano, on the other hand, raced home to change his pants, then went to the office to work.
    That evening, he asked Fazio if there was a squad car available to take him home.
    “There’s Gallo, Chief.”
    “Nobody else?”
    He wanted to avoid another Indianapolis-style dash like the one he’d endured in the morning.
    “No, sir.”
    Once in the car, he admonished Gallo.
    “Listen, Gallo.We’re in no hurry this time. Drive slowly.”
    “Tell me how fast you want me to go, Chief.”
    “Twenty miles per hour, max.”
    “Twenty?! Chief, I don’t even know how to drive twenty miles an hour. I’m liable to crash into something. What do you say we go thirty-five, forty?”
    “Okay.”
    Everything went smoothly until they turned off the main road and onto the unpaved one leading to the house. Right in front of the rustic cottage, a dog dashed