Suffer the Little Children Read Online Free Page A

to the doctor. ‘I’m from Verona, Dottoressa,’ he said in a muffled voice.
    â€˜In that case,’ she said briskly, ‘see your own doctor after three days or if it starts to bleed again. All right?’
    He nodded and then turned to the Captain. ‘And work, sir?’
    â€˜I don’t think you’d be much use to anyone with that,’ the Captain said, pointing at the bandage, then added, ‘I’ll call your sergeant and explain.’ He turned to the doctor and said, ‘If you’d give him some sort of letter, Dottoressa, he can go on sick leave for a few days.’
    Something, perhaps nothing more than a sense of theatre or the habit of suspicion, made Brunetti wonder if the Captain would have been so gracious had he not been there as witness and if he had not introduced himself as a police officer. The doctor walked to the desk and pulled a pad towards her. She wrote a few lines, tore off the paper, and handed it to the injured man, who thanked her, then saluted the Captain and left the room.
    â€˜I was told that another man came in with them, Dottoressa,’ Brunetti said. ‘Could you tell me where he is?’
    She was young, he noticed now, far younger than a doctor had any right to be. She was not beautiful, but she had a pleasant face, the sort that would wear well through life, becoming more attractive as she grew older.
    â€˜He’s a colleague of mine, the assistant chief of
pediatria
,’ she began, emphasizing the title asthough offering it as sufficient proof that the Carabinieri had no business being involved with him. ‘I didn’t like the look of his injuries’ – this with a glance towards the Captain – ‘so I sent him up to
neurologia
and called the assistant
primario
at home.’ Brunetti was aware that she had the Captain’s attention as well as his own. ‘His pupils wouldn’t dilate, and he had trouble placing his left foot, so I thought someone from
neurologia
should take a look at him.’
    At this, the Captain interrupted from his place against the wall. ‘Couldn’t it have waited until later, Dottoressa? There’s no need to get a doctor out of bed because a man’s hit his head, is there?’
    She turned her attention to the Captain, and the look she gave him made Brunetti prepare for a barrage. Instead, she said in an entirely neutral voice, ‘I thought it wiser, Captain, as he seems to have hit his head against the butt of a rifle.’
    So much for you, Captain, Brunetti thought. He caught the look the officer gave her in response and was surprised to see that the young man actually looked embarrassed.
    â€˜He said that, Dottoressa?’ the Captain asked.
    â€˜No. He didn’t say anything. Your man did. I asked what had happened to his nose, and he told me.’ Her voice remained neutral.
    The Captain nodded and pushed himself away from the wall. He approached Brunetti and put out his hand. ‘Marvilli,’ he said as they shook hands. Then he turned to the doctor and said, ‘For what it’s worth, Dottoressa, he’s notmy man. As he told you, he’s from the command in Verona. All four of them are.’ When neither Brunetti nor the doctor acknowledged this remark, the Captain revealed his youth and his uncertainty by explaining, ‘The officer who was supposed to come with them had to replace someone in Milano, so they assigned me to the operation because I’m stationed here.’
    â€˜I see,’ the doctor said. Brunetti, who had no idea of the extent – even the nature – of the operation, thought it wisest to remain silent.
    Marvilli seemed to have run out of things to say, so after a pause, Brunetti said, ‘I’d like to see this man, if I may, Dottoressa. The one in
neurologia
.’
    â€˜Do you know where it is?’
    â€˜Next to
dermatologia
?’ Brunetti asked.
    â€˜Yes.’
    â€˜Then I see no