FOG AT CHRISTMAS

 FOG  AT CHRISTMAS 

“ Listen Paula, I would like to ask you if you know something new about that neighbor of yours….You told me that he had disappeared just on Christmas day, and no one knew anything of him since months. You see, they talked recently about this man in television, and my son Alex remembered that this….this Horatio C. is the father of a classmate of his….Ah, back then, when my son and his were teenagers, this Horatio  was a photographer, while you told me that he now, before disappearing, had a farm , even a farm specialized in the production for biological food…..” Anne said, looking at Paula, sitting facing her at the small table of the living room.

“Oh, yes, the farm….ah, I told you about the farm….but it seems that Horatio C. was going to sell it….ah, but then he disappeared, just as I told you, the morning of the Christmas day……His wife  am his son went out for go to Mass, after the Mass they went to the pastry shop ,  where they had ordered the dessert for Christmas lunch….ah there would also be the grandparents and the uncles, the aunts at lunch that day. They, his wife and his son had left him ( Horatio ) at home, while he was putting the finishing touches  on the table , already set for the great lunch, and on the Christmas tree. He had also remained at home to wait for the relatives, who had to arrive at any moment. When they came back home, they found their relatives waiting outside, since they had rang the bell, but the door had remained closed.And he, Horatio, had disappeared”

“ But, you know, in the television report, where they talked about him, about his disappearance….a friend of his, or maybe just an acquaintance who, while was talking, was only filmed from behind, said that Horatio had in mind since some time to change his life, and perhaps to disappear ….That man mentioned the disagreements of Horatio with his wife, and with his son , too. But not only……this man told that Horatio had for years been in a relationship with a married woman, from whom he had had a daughter…..” At this point Anne was silent for a moment, to catch her breath, since so much frantically, very moved, she had spoken. “ But listen…listen …he, Horatio couldn’t recognize her daughter , who therefore turned out to be the daughter of his lover’s husband “ Anne said, all in one breath. Then she remained silent, but it was evident that she was anxiously waiting for her curiosity could be satisfied by what Paula would tell her, oh, she after all was a neighbor of the missing man.

“ Ah, look, I haven’t seen the television report you was talking about, but anyway….if one knows details….things….like those that….that guy had reported….but why doesn’t he let us see his face?” Paula snorted in replay , and then she was silent, crossing her arms.

“ Do you mean…do you mean that it doesn’t appear to you that Horatio had a lover and also a daughter from her lover?” Anne asked, rather disappointed.

“ Ah, look…I not only don’t know anything about that….oh, but I assure you that I can exclude he had a lover, not to mention a daughter ( he would have from his lover)….no, look, I can exclude all that, even if…..I cannot tell you why “

“ But how….let me understand….you said that you can absolutely exclude that Horatio, your neighbor, had a lover and, therefore even he had a child from his lover….oh, well….he was a neighbor of yours…. But soon after you came out  with your statement that you cannot tell me WHY you are able to exclude…..what you exclude. Sorry, but then I could ask you: why should I believe you rather than that…..that guy in television?”Anne spoke in an impatient, even angry tone.

“ Oh, my dear…I could get away with saying that you have to believe me instead of….that handsome guy squirting how much in television, since I, while I’m talking to you, I’m here, in front of you ! And you can see my face!” Paula exclaimed, sealing her words with her fist knocked on the table.

“ Ah, I see….I think that you know….but sure….I mean that you must know important facts, circumstances …..important things about this man , Horatio, about his disappearance, about his family , too. But sure that you can know even something secret about him, after all since he is, indeed was , a neighbor of yours ….”  At this point Anne stopped a moment, motioned to Paula, who was about to  start speaking, to wait, since she still had something else to add.

“And , yes, I can understand that you don’t want to talk about these…..these secrets” Anne almost whispered these words, in a resigned and sad tone.

“ Ah! Ah! Ah! Oh, sorry, excuse me if I am laughing, but how can I not burst out laughing , to hear you speak of secret! Around here…..” And Paula gestured with her arms, her hands, to indicate the place , the surroundings. “ Around here all people know well that, oh, it was certainly not Horatio to have lovers! Ah! Ah! Ah!”

“ You say….do you mean that ….that she was his wife , who had a lover?” Anne dared to ask, more and more intrigued, as well as to be about to learn something very interesting.

“ Ah, his wife! She of lovers didn’t just have one! Oh, I’m sure to not tell you a secret! All people here know it very well” Paula claimed.

“Oh, but look….and he, Horatio, did he know ….?”

“ Of course, he knew”

“ Ah….I would never have imagined such a situation. You know, in that television report they also interviewed his wife….She seemed so much worried , even sincerely saddened for his husband’s disappearance. She said that she was fearing that….he was dead”   Anne’s voice, who had begun to speak almost shouting, dropped to a murmur.

“ Oh, imagine if she is afraid her poor man is dead…..I would say that she rather is fearing the opposite, that he is still alive” Paula accompanied the words she was saying, as if to underline them, with shaking of  his head and hands gestures.

“ Listen…..do you think Horatio is dead? Do you think he was killed?” Anne asked , in a very excited voice.

“ Ah, I don’t know….But, yes, he could have been killed” Paula whispered.

“ Yet you ….you must know more, I ‘m feeling that you know something more…..Oh, I know it is useless for me to insist on ( for) knowing. You won’t tell me anything” Anne complained, shaking her head disconsolately.

“ Well, then listen to…this…” Paula started saying, while she was looking intently at the watch on her wrist, holding the dial of which between her thumb and her forefinger “ Yeah, I’ll tell you of something ….almost strange, something that will make you think…. think badly…..Then, the day after, indeed it was night, Christmas, when Horatio had disappeared, I found, and at all by chance, his watch . And do you know where I found it? On the sidewalk of this street, three, four hundred meters from here. It was behind a garbage can , as if someone had put it there to hidem it…..or maybe not, maybe instead that the watch had ended there because it had fallen to whoever had it…”

“ Oh, but then…..indeed, are you sure it was his watch?” Anne, impatient, interrupted Paula.

“ I ‘m absolutely sure. I had seen his watch, seen it up close, I mean . He, Horatio, had shown it to me, all proud of having such a special, particular watch. It was a gift of his nephew, who had brought it to him from Saint Petersburg. And that watch really had characteristics , which made it very special, if not unique. Besides___SAINT PETERSBURG___written in the Cyrillic alphabet, his nephew had engraved the name___HORATIO___on the watch case. “ Paula fell silent, staring at Anne.

“ Oh, but then you had have taken that watch to the police, I guess “

“ Sure…. And do you know what I had to hear? Ah, really an unbelievable stuff! The policeman who saw the watch, I think he was an inspector, said me .. that watch had no importance, it was at all irrelevant to the investigations into Horatio C., into his disappearance” Paula ended her telling by clapping her hands.

“ But are you kidding? How it couldn’t  matter if it was his watch ?” Anne cried, staring at her with wide eyes.

“ Yes, very unbelievable, isn’t? Yet, that’s what they told me at the police station “

“ But the watch….how did that watch end? Where is it now?”

“ Ah! Ah! Ah! Listen….to remain in the unbelievable……ah! Ah! Ah! But listen…..since the watch had no importance for the investigation, it was seized by the police! Ah! Ah! Ah!” Paula’s words were drowned in laughter.

“ I cannot believe it….I cannot believe it….” Anne kept on repeating , shaking her head disconsolately.

“ Yes, all this is incredible , but indeed it is more than incredible….ah, I would say it is very crazy! You know, since the police inspector said me that watch was irrelevant for the investigation, I thought they would give it back to me, that I  would give it to Horatio’s wife or son, or that they, the cops, would take care to return it to his family “ Paula added.

“ But…if you found his special watch on the sidewalk, the day after he had disappeared, then…it is very likely that Horatio C. did not go away by his will, but that he was made  disappear” Anne said, after a moment of silence.

“Yes, that’s what I think too” Paula agreed.

“ Then…if he was made to disappear, I think he was  killed too” Anne said, in a faint voice.

“ Do you remember the last Christmas? “ Paula started to speak with this completely unexpected question. “ Last Christmas…it was a foggy day….and about evening the snow began to fall, it kept on snowing all night. The following morning there was plenty of snow on the streets, on the sidewalks…..there was a thick blanket of snow everywhere….” Paula was talking dreamily.         “Sorry, but I don’t understand why you started talking about …..about fog and snow” Anne interrupted her talking.

“ Don’t you remember? Last Christmas was a foggy day, there was a thick, also freezing fog….and at night it snowed heavily. If you think about it….that was the ideal day to make someone disappear”

“ Yeah, that’s right” Anne acknowledged.

“I’m over forty, but I don’t remember another Christmas, before this, with fog” Paula said.

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