The Sense of an Elephant Read Online Free Page B

tricked me,’ he said to a recovering ficus that he had given up for lost. Placed it more squarely in the sun’s path and went into the lodge. Checked the notebook with the list of things to remember. Dr Martini’s daughter’s birthday was just a week away. Nicolini the magician would be stopping by in the next few days to work out where to do the show. The concierge would first have to clean out the gutters and prune the hedge. He stood to open the lodge window’s curtains, instead returned to the bedroom and took the keys to the Martinis’.
    Pietro carried the keys in his pocket and occasionally felt to be sure they were still there. He had to wait until the building emptied. The first to leave was the lawyer. On pool days hewas always an early riser. Shortly after it was Paola’s turn. She came up to the lodge.
    â€˜My Fernando is ill and won’t be going to work today.’ The smell of hairspray struck him full in the face. ‘Would you mind looking in on him every so often?’
    Pietro nodded. ‘I’ll also drop off this cactus. It’s better.’
    â€˜I’ll pay you back with dinner.’ Paola put on her hat and went out as the voice of the doctor’s daughter floated down the stairwell. Sara whimpered, cuddled up against her mother’s chest, an invisible bundle with one eye open wide, the other closed. Waved the magic wand and stared at him.
    Viola put her down. ‘She doesn’t want to go to nursery school. What am I to do?’ She buttoned up the girl’s hooded top. ‘Have a good day, Pietro.’ Smiled and went out with her daughter.
    The postman came early. Pietro sped up operations by telling him he would distribute the post to the boxes himself. The postman handed over the lot and the concierge set to work. For Paola there was a fashion magazine with the newest collections and a current-affairs weekly that was mostly gossip. He had come across the previous issue in the wastepaper bin and read it during quiet times. He flipped through this one briefly then continued to pick through the pile. There were also three envelopes for Fernando’s mother, two of them still addressed to her husband. He put them in her box. For the lawyer there was a newsletter from the Rotary club and a child sponsorship update. Remaining on the table was the post for the Martinis. Viola had received an invitation to an art opening.He placed it in their box and turned to the doctor’s post. There was an envelope from a medical conference and the
Corriere della Sera
, which he came to the lodge every morning to pick up. Pietro removed the plastic wrapper and refolded the newspaper carefully so that the corners were perfectly matched. He spied a front-page article about a Mafioso on the run being arrested, had begun to read it when the doctor came down. With a gym bag over his shoulder and a phone to his ear, the doctor signed to him that he would pick up the paper later. Pietro waited until he left, then checked the time.
    He entered the courtyard. Viola’s gardenia was still in low spirits, Paola’s cactus revived and beginning to flower. He picked up the latter and carried it into the entrance hall. The stairs were silent as a tomb. He began to climb, staggering with the weight of the cactus until the first floor, where he had to pause before continuing up. No sound came from the doors on the second floor. He moved closer to Poppi’s door and heard the low murmur of the television that the lawyer left on every time he went out, put down the cactus on the Martinis’ doormat and rang the bell. Rang again. Drew out the keys, inserted them into the locks and opened the door.
    The photograph of the doctor on the Vespa was as he had left it. He lifted it up and noticed that the child was clutching something in his less visible hand, perhaps a slingshot, perhaps just a piece of rope. Beside the picture frame the basket of knick-knacks