Quietly in Their Sleep Read Online Free PDF

wills.
     
    He found Signorina Elettra at her desk, and the sight of her busy at her computer surprised him, almost as if he had expected her to be reading the newspaper or working on a crossword puzzle as a way to celebrate Patta’s continuing absence. ‘Signorina, what do you know about wills?’ he asked as he came in.
     
    ‘That I don’t have one,’ she said lightly and smiled, tossing her answer over her shoulder and treating the question lightly, as would anyone still in their early thirties.
     
    And may you never need one, Brunetti found himself wishing. He returned her smile and then allowed his own to fade away. ‘Well, about other people’s wills, then?’
     
    Seeing his seriousness, she swivelled around in her chair and faced him, waiting for an explanation.
     
    ‘I’d like to find out the contents of the wills of five people who died here this year, in the San Leonardo nursing home.’
     
    ‘Were they residents of Venice?’ she asked.
     
    ‘I don’t know. Why? Does it make a difference?’
     
    ‘Wills are made public by the notory who drew them up, regardless of where the person dies. If they made their wills here in Venice, then all I need is the name of the notory.’
     
    ‘And if I don’t have that?’ he asked.
     
    ‘Then that will make it harder.’
     
    ‘Harder?’
     
    Her smile was open, her voice level. ‘The fact that you didn’t simply contact the heirs and ask for copies, Commissario, makes me think that you don’t want anyone to know you’re asking questions.’ She smiled again. ‘There’s a central office where copies are recorded. Their files were computerized two years ago, so there’s no problem there, but if the notaries work out in some little paese out on the mainland that hasn’t been computerized yet, then it might be more difficult.’
     
    ‘If they were recorded here, can you get the information?’
     
    ‘Of course.’
     
    ‘How?’
     
    She looked down at her skirt and brushed away an invisible speck. ‘I’m afraid it’s illegal.’
     
    ‘What’s illegal?’
     
    ‘The way I get the information.’
     
    ‘Which is . . .?’
     
    ‘I’m not sure you can understand, Commissario, or that I could explain it to you adequately, but there are ways of discovering the codes which give access to almost all information. The more public the information is — a city hall, public records — the easier it is to discover the code. And once a person has that, it’s as if. . . well, it’s as if they’d gone home and left the door to the office open and the lights on.’
     
    ‘Is this true of all government agencies?’ he asked uneasily.
     
    ‘I think you’d prefer not to know the answer,’ she said, her smile gone.
     
    ‘How easy is it to get this information?’ he asked.
     
    ‘I’d say it’s in direct proportion to the skill of the person looking for it.’
     
    ‘And how skilled are you, Signorina?’
     
    The question summoned back a smile, a very small one. ‘I think that’s a question I’d prefer not to answer, Commissario.’
     
    He studied the soft contours of her face, noticed for the first time two faint lines that extended down from the outside corners of her eyes, no doubt the result of frequent smiles, and found it difficult to believe that this was a person possessed of criminal craft and, in all likelihood, of criminal intent.
     
    Not for a moment reflecting upon his oath of office, Brunetti asked, ‘But if they lived here, then you can get the information?’
     
    He noticed the way she struggled to keep all evidence of pride out of her voice, struggled and failed. ‘The records in the registry office, Commissario?’
     
    Amused at the tone of condescension which a former employee of the Banca D’ltalia used when speaking the name of a mere government office, he nodded.
     
    ‘I can get you the names of the principal heirs after lunch. Copies of the wills might take a day or two.’
     
    Only the young and