ABRAM AUGUSTO BOY_1 BOY_3 CCAU_INSPECTOR DANIELE ELENA ELIA ELISA EMILIO ERNESTO FRANCO GIRL GIULIA GUARDSMAN GUIDO JACOPO LUIGI MATTIA MIHAIL PATRIZIA SAMANTHA SERENA VINCENZO DANIELE I shouldn’t tell you, but you might get a shock otherwise- ELENA Tell me what? DANIELE Giulia has also invited a couple of your old teammates to tonight’s dinner, with their relative husbands or partners - oh, and Guido --- ELENA I don’t know if I feel up to it. Daniele positions himself in front of her, making her stop in her tracks. DANIELE I thought we made a deal. ELENA Ok. DANIELE Anyhow, you don’t need to worry, they’re all harmless--- no, wait, Sammantha isn’t exactly harmless, but I’ll keep her in check, promise- ELENA Sammi? Daniele nods. DANIELE Patrizia will be there too---she’s easy- but she separated and is now going out with a Capoeira teacher who isn’t even thirty - It’s him who’s the problem: if he starts rambling about capoeira being easy and that anyone could try it, just go out for a cigarette. ELENA It’s not because of them. It’s me who’s the problem. DANIELE In what sense? ELENA The girl you knew, the one they knew--- I no longer know where she is. I’m scared that she might turn resurface if I come to your place, and I have no room for that person anymore. Anywhere. DANIELE I’ll pretend I understood that. ELENA When I disappeared out of the blue all those years ago, I’d started to be unwell. DANIELE In what way unwell? ELENA I’d started to see things in a strange way. DANIELE Meaning? ELENA There were moments that everything blurred into one, I felt I was drowning. Even the city, you, Giulia, everyone: you would suddenly appear hostile to me, as if ready to chase me away and tell me that nothing was as I believed it to be. ELENA One day I couldn’t cope anymore and I left. I begged my grandmother not to tell anyone where I was- ELENA I went to Milan to stay with my aunt - and after a few months I had a kind of black out. I completely broke down. Leaving you, our friends and Venice in that way had done nothing to help. DANIELE Ok-- listen, it doesn’t matter. I’m sorry if I insisted in knowing. You’re right, it is what it is and it doesn’t matter at this point. ELENA No, you’re the one who’s right. I behaved ridiculously. I wasn’t able to do any differently. I spent three terrible years, I was hospitalized, analyzed and medicated. And at some point this crumbling and melting away of everything around me, ended. I felt well again. The world started to come back into focus and I started living normally again. DANIELE Ok, let’s do this then. If you don’t feel up to coming this evening, don’t worry. I’ll explain things to Giulia. But I want you to know one thing. DANIELE If by any chance you change your mind, whatever other person you discover you are, don’t worry: our home will always be open to that person. SAMANTHA Kids, you know that aunt Samantha is a witch and will turn you into mice if you keep on making this racket? The older girl answers without even looking at her - GIRL Mice will survive global warming. We won’t- ELIA I believed you when I was four. But I’m five now- SAMANTHA That’s why I never wanted children- ELISA Did you at least bring her dummy? JACOPO Didn’t you say you would? SAMANTHA -and because of this. GIULIA So, we’ve set up a table in Elia and Emilio’s room so the kids can eat in there, out of our earshot- GIULIA What do you say? Shall we start taking our seats? Wherever you want. Except head of table, which we’ll save for Elena- GUIDO I think you and Giulia are victims of some kind of collective hallucination. In the sense that you just dreamt about Elena- GIULIA The hallucination is obviously spreading- ELENA I was undecided between wine, dessert, or flowers, so I bought them all- GIULIA It’s wonderful to see you. ELENA You too. GIULIA Do you remember what we always used to say? ELENA Our motto? ELENA Fuck the world - GIULIA - ‘cause the world fucks you. GIULIA Did you want to introduce yourselves? GIULIA This is the big boy Emilio, and the other is Elia. And she is a dear friend of mummy and daddy’s, her name is Elena. ELENA Hello Emilio, hello Elia. EMILIO Hello. ELIA Hello. ELENA The both look like you, but don’t tell Daniele. GIULIA Here she is- SAMANTHA Hello gorgeous- Samantha squeezes her bottom. Elena startles. SAMANTHA How come yours is firm and mine sags? ABRAM If you did capoeira- SAMANTHA You be quiet when the grownups are speaking- GUIDO So you two are working together on that awful case- ELENA Yes. PATRIZIA To it better- PATRIZIA -you’re the super-expert flown in from Rome because this clueless guy here-- PATRIZIA -- was fumbling in the dark- ELENA That’s not true. I just have different areas of expertise- SAMANTHA You always had masses of expertise. Which area are you referring to in particular? ELENA There are very sick people who kidnap vulnerable minors. They use them to produce phonographic material. Then they get rid of them in a variety of ways. I deal with trying to identify those people online. Then track them down in the real world. ELENA Sorry. But their aren’t many other ways of explaining it simply- SAMANTHA Lord Almighty, I struggle to understand how you three all became cops-- SAMANTHA --what was it, some kind of telepathic convergence towards madness? DANIELE So says the naturopath- SAMANTHA Anyhow, gorgeous, what made you choose a job like that? ELENA Because somebody has to do it - but it isn’t easy, not everyone manages. It isn’t a question of skill or intelligence. It’s just that-- ELISA That? ELENA Well- it’s not easy to deal with psychologically. And then you need to have the ability to focus obsessively on details. You need to be able to cut out the rest of the world and just focus on that until you find a solution. Basically you have to be a bit loopy in the head- ELENA -the perfect job for me- ELENA Excuse me, I need to pop to the bathroom- GIULIA Fancy a cigarette? ELENA What does Stella say? GIULIA It was her suggestion- GIULIA Sorry but I feel I have bricks instead of feet- ELENA Yeah. I remember that feeling in the last month - GIULIA You too---? ELENA One- GIULIA Called? ELENA Diego- GIULIA How old is he? ELENA Fourteen in June- GIULIA And his father? ELENA He’s called Mattia. We separated three years ago. But we’re on good terms- GIULIA When will you bring Diego to meet us? ELENA Soon. GIULIA And after Mattia? ELENA He found a more suitable partner. And, as I was saying, I have my job- GIULIA Do you remember our first day of junior school? ELENA The crybaby with plaits who wanted to dig a hole in the garden to run back home? I certainly do! GIULIA All those first times that you and I shared. For thirteen years it seemed inconceivable to spend an entire day without seeing you. And now--- GIULIA ---I admire you for what you do, although I never had any doubts: you always were the genius. As for the rest I have no idea what your ex-husband looks like and I’ve never met your fourteen year old son. GIULIA The fact is that I always remained the crybaby with plaits. And I missed you. Every single day. And every single day, since Daniele and I first kissed until the day that Emilio was born, I felt-- GIULIA --like a thief. As if I’d stolen your life. ELENA What are you saying? You didn’t steal anything. Look- ELENA -your children are beautiful, you two are beautiful - whatever happened before has no importance. None whatsoever- GIULIA GIULIA You haven’t changed either: a hard shell with a soft heart. GIULIA Hey, Spiker- GIULIA I don’t believe that what happened before has no importance. But it is in the past and my comment was not intended as a reproach nor, even though it’s in my nature, as a whine - It was to tell you that --- remember that Aerosmith song we used to always listen to? GIULIA I don’t wanna close my eyes, I don’t want fall asleep’--- ELENA Come on, stop it- GIULIA --- cause I’d still miss you baby and I don’t want to miss a thing- Elena laughs, but she’s sad- ELIA Daddy- ELIA Why has mummy gone a little bit mad ever since that lady arrived? DANIELE Mummy was already a little bit mad, darling. That lady, who is called Elena - remember? - has just reminded her about it. GUIDO It was a lovely evening. DANIELE Yes, it was. JACOPO You do it, I don’t know how to- ELISA You could learn... GUIDO Watch it- DANIELE Watch what? GUIDO You know what. ERNESTO Deputy commissioner Zonin, what a pleasure--- ELENA Thank you commissioner. ERNESTO I was expecting you yesterday--- ELENA I preferred to get straight to work on the case-- ERNESTO I imagine you don’t remember me. But I remember you perfectly. ERNESTO The famous captain of Venice Volley first division 1995: I was one of your cheerleaders in high-school! ERNESTO I’ve known Commissioner Misuri since our days at the Academy, she told me that you’ve gone from one excellence to another. To the point that the Minister of Internal Affairs would like to whisk you from cyber crimes to head the antiterrorism department. ELENA But I’m here now-- ERNESTO Yes--- so, Gilberto Ballarin died from a respiratory crisis caused by the narcotic he had been given-- ERNESTO ---and he was dumped in the lagoon after his death. ERNESTO So it was homicide, even though the intention of his kidnappers wasn’t to kill him. ELENA This is what we believe at the moment. ERNESTO And there is no evidence of abuse. DANIELE No. But there are traces of DNA under his fingernails. We’re having it analyzed. It’s a sign that he tried to defend himself. ERNESTO But no signs of abuse-- ELENA The other night Gilberto was put up for auction on the deepweb. The auction was suddenly interrupted following his death. If he hadn’t died he would have been sold to the highest bidder. That was the plan. Not just abuse. ERNESTO Yes, of course, Daniele told me-- ERNESTO How certain are you, in percentages, that the photo is actually of Gilberto Ballarin? ELENA One hundred percent. The biometric cross checks leave no doubts. ERNESTO I’ve been told about your investigation theory on a broader spectrum--- ELENA Yes, I’ve been working on it for years. A network of people who also operate in Italy and is connected to a number of cases of missing minors. ERNESTO You do realize, don’t you, what that would mean? ELENA I know what it has already meant and what it will mean if we don’t manage to stop them. ERNESTO May I take the liberty to say that I find your theory quite suggestive, but that it doesn’t really make sense in Italy. DANIELE But Erni it does make sense, I’ve seen the deputy commissioner’s data: the cases of missing minors is far higher than it appears if you take into account the vulnerable categories who don’t file reports because they officially don’t exist. ELENA Precisely- ERNESTO I want to be clear. I can’t stand theories. In order to prove them one ends up forcing investigations into one direction only and making terrible mistakes. ELENA Meaning? ERNESTO That we are looking for the person who harmed that boy. Full stop. Is that clear? ELENA Clear. ERNESTO The case will be followed by prosecutor Scannaiuolo, she’s an excellent magistrate and has already been informed. She too has made it quite clear that she hates theories. ERNESTO How do you intend proceeding? DANIELE Gilberto Ballarin hung out with a group of older kids around the train station. ELENA We want to find out who they are and what they get up to. ERNESTO Good. ERNESTO I want to be kept constantly updated. ELENA You will. ERNESTO Please allow me a few more moments of Inspector Vianello’s presence. After which, he’s all yours--- ERNESTO I’m giving you a second chance. There won’t be any others--- DANIELE I do my job, Erni. ERNESTO And I do mine. And I’m responsible for a city that thrives on tourism, Daniele. If we turn Venice into a city of horrors, how many tourists do you think will come here? DANIELE I don’t care. For the sake of tourism we have turned this city into a picture postcard, we have lost it’s soul, we sold it off with the souvenirs. I won’t try and conceal monsters just to keep you happy. ERNESTO If there is a monster we’ll find him. But I don’t want your friend around breaking my balls. So do me a favor Dan, do that trick again that you did twenty years ago. Make her disappear. ELENA Did he ask you to get rid of me? DANIELE No, what are you saying? DANIELE He asked me to get rid of you. ELENA And you? DANIELE I told him the truth- DANIELE That I won’t do it, because you could be right. BOY 1 Ten euros--- DANIELE Is there a problem here? BOY 1 No problems, boss. Elena gets out a photo of Gilberto and shows it to the boy. ELENA Ever seen him? ELENA Answer this question. We don’t care about anything else. BOY 1 Never seen him. Sorry. BOY 3 No. DANIELE So? You’ve seen him before? ELENA Are you sure? MIHAIL Of course I’m sure. If you know someone you know. If you don’t you don’t. ELENA You don’t want to know what happened to him? If he was a friend of mine I’d want to know. MIHAIL No, I’m not interested in what happens to someone I don’t know. ELENA We retrieved him from the bottom of the sea. ELENA I’ll ask you one more time: did you know him? MIHAIL I’m sorry for him. But I didn’t know him. ELENA He’s lying. DANIELE I know. ELENA We need to get him to tell us what he knows--- DANIELE Let’s make a deal: I’ll trust your online investigations--- DANIELE --and you trust my real world ones. DANIELE Give me one good reason for not taking you straight to the juvenile court-- MIHAIL You’ve got the wallet now-- Daniele looks him in the eyes as he keeps his grip on him. DANIELE What’s your name? MIHAIL Mihail---Mihail Zinoiev. DANIELE How old are you? MIHAIL Fifteen. DANIELE Where’s your father? DANIELE Your mother? MIHAIL She live with piece of shit no want me there. DANIELE Where do you live? DANIELE I mean’t before. MIHAIL Pettirosso in Castel Franco. DANIELE The children’s care home? MIHAIL Listen, let go and I’ll tell yu everything you want. DANIELE Tell me about the boy in the photo. You knew him, didn’t you? MIHAIL No, please. DANIELE I have two young children and a third on its way. I can’t risk having a heart attack, my wife wouldn’t forgive me. ELENA Are you mad? He’s a minor! DANIELE To the Juvenile Court-- MIHAIL Gilberto my friend. We spent all our time together. MIHAIL I don’t want to go to Juvenile. DANIELE When did you last see him? MIHAIL Don’t remember--- ELENA Please Mihail, it’s important, it could happen to another boy if you don’t help us. MIHAIL Friday--- DANIELE Friday when? Morning? Afternoon? MIHAIL Evening. ELENA Do you remember more or less what time? MIHAIL Seven. It was dark. DANIELE And what did he say to you? MIHAIL He came to say bye. DANIELE Why bye? MIHAIL He was going away. ELENA Did he tell you where he was planning on going? MIHAIL No. He just said he was going. And that first he had to go and get his money from Cioro. DANIELE Who’s Cioro? MIHAIL A guy who hangs out a the station selling dope--- ELENA Don’t worry. We’re only interested in finding who harmed Gilberto. MIHAIL --- and stolen goods--Cioro buys them. MIHAIL In the basement. DANIELE Don’t you move from here, is that clear? MIHAIL Clear. DANIELE Wait here. ELENA You’re joking, right? DANIELE You don’t seem armed to me. ELENA I’m not, but I’m not waiting here. DANIELE At least stay behind me. DANIELE Elena! What the fuck are you doing!? Stop! ELENA Stop! Police! DANIELE You could have been killed. DANIELE See you back at the headquarters. DANIELE Damned son of a --- DANIELE Found anything? LUIGI These were hidden in the rubbish. DANIELE No ketamine? LUIGI No. Nothing yet, boss. ELENA I can get someone from my team to come up from Rome if it could be helpful--- AUGUSTO No need for that, boss. ELENA Are you sure? AUGUSTO I hope so. The chief commissioner has asked to keep investigations internal. ELENA Call me as soon as you have something. VINCENZO I think he’s just a poor idiot. ELENA He hasn’t spoken yet, how can you say that? VINCENZO I’ve seen a lot of faces, and his is not the one of someone who would kill a child. DANIELE Perhaps is it’s because I have two children and a third on the way. DANIELE But I can’t stand those who meddle with young boys. FRANCO I’ve never touched a young boy in my entire life. DANIELE But you've been convicted for molesting minors. FRANCO None of it is true. I’ve always helped everybody, there are lots of kids who have nobody and I give them a hand. Because I grew up alone too, I know what it means. DANIELE Are you telling me that your conviction was a miscarriage of justice? FRANCO Those who grow up alone are not good. They build protection to defend themselves. One of those boys tried to blackmail me and as I didn’t give in he reported me for abuse. He ruined my life, but I never had it in for him. DANIELE I’ll tell you how I see it and you tell me where I’m wrong. FRANCO That’s not true, I don’t know any Gilberto Ballarin. DANIELE Gilberto Ballarin was one of the kids who milled around you, what did you do? Sell him your shitty drugs? Did you like him? Did you try and lure him unsuccessfully? Or did someone ask you to do what you did? FRANCO I don’t know what you’re talking about. DANIELE Let me see your arms. DANIELE Show me your fucking arms!! DANIELE What are those? DANIELE Who did that to you? FRANCO My cats--- DANIELE I didn’t see any cats in that dump that you live in. DANIELE Gilberto scratched his attacker. We have the DNA, your DNA. DANIELE Who are your accomplices? Who asked you to kidnap that boy? If you collaborate with us we can consider it manslaughter. That’s six years at most, against the minimum of 21 in the case of murder which, with your previous record, means life. I don’t know what role you had in this story. But let’s say you just helped them, that you didn’t want to kill him, that it just happened. You’re only card is to tell us the truth, now, because both I and my colleague are getting fed up of your bullshit. And if we walk out of here and call your lawyer without you having talked, we’ll push for life imprisonment. FRANCO I want to speak to my lawyer. DANIELE I’m the one who found him, I thought he was still alive, thirteen fucking years old! ELENA Do you want one? ELENA The thing that hurts the most when you’re a child and adults don’t respect you, when you’re a child and they abuse you, physically or psychologically, is that nobody notices your pain. ELENA You cry, you beg for compassion, for help, please- ELENA - and they look at you with that empty gaze, as if they couldn’t see you, as if you were a plastic doll- ELENA In every case I have worked on this has been the worst thing, you know? To see this chain created that then becomes very difficult to break. Because a child who is subjected to something like that, usually, to protect themself, has little choice but become exactly like them. ELENA You feel nothing any more. And you want to repeat that damned game. Except that this time you’re the one who is in control. FRANCO I’m not like that. I didn't become like that- I swear- ELENA I believe you, Franco. But I need you to tell me everything you know about Gilberto. He can no longer cry out for help but, believe me, he did. And I need you to answer. FRANCO He had nicked some money from me and I got mad at him, that’s all. We had an argument, that’s how I got these scratches. But I don’t know anything about ketamine, or about photos online, or anything else.. ELENA When did you argue? FRANCO Friday evening. ELENA He was killed that night. FRANCO When I last saw him he was alive. ELENA Where were you when you last saw him? FRANCO At my place. ELENA And did he tell you where he was going? FRANCO He was supposed to meet up with a girl. He told me he stole my money because of her. He told me he needed the money because they were going away together. He told me the girl had problems with her father and he had to help her get away. DANIELE This is a thirteen year old boy we’re talking about, how are we supposed to believe this bullshit? FRANCO I laughed at him too, I said the same to him and asked for my money back. But he insisted, he showed me a photo. She was pretty. She must have been thirteen or fourteen. ELENA And where did he get the photo from? FRANCO It was on his phone. ELENA He had a phone? FRANCO Everyone has a phone these days. ELENA Do you have the number? FRANCO Of course, it’s saved in my mobile. ELENA He had another phone that his family didn’t know about- ELENA -we need to get hold of the phone transcripts. And we need to trace the girl he told us about. DANIELE And if she doesn’t exist? If he invented everything? ELENA In that case we’ll find photos of Gilberto on his computer, the ones that were put online the night he died. ELENA But I don’t believe we’ll find anything on his computer. DANIELE How can you say that? ELENA I don’t think he’s lying. DANIELE His criminal record says differently. ELENA Yes, but it doesn’t mention kidnap or murder. DANIELE I’ll get hold of the transcripts. ELENA Perfect. I’m going back to Rome for a couple of days. Keep me posted. DANIELE Why are you going? ELENA To spend some time with my son. AUGUSTO Sir, I was about to call you--- DANIELE Tell me--- AUGUSTO I have good news and bad news. DANIELE First the good news--- AUGUSTO The DNA found under the boy’s fingernails matches that of the suspect- DANIELE ---and the bad news?? AUGUSTO The computer is full of obscenities, but nothing that involves minors. No trace of Gilberto Ballarin. DANIELE I need the suspect’s mobile, it should have Gilberto Ballarin’s phone number saved in it. Find it and put in an urgent request for the transcripts. GUARDSMAN I’ll let you through, Ma’am--- CCAU INSPECTOR Welcome back Ma’am! ELENA Thank you Alessandro. SERENA Going to Venice didn’t do you any good. You look like shit. ELENA I haven’t slept for three nights. SERENA Trust me: once you’ve turned forty, seven hours sleep every night and no cigarettes are an investment for the future - ELENA I’ll invest in my future once I’ve solved this case. SERENA Lo Iacono told me it’s solved. That you’ve already found the culprit- ELENA No Serena, it wasn’t him. SERENA He’s planning a press conference. And he wants you to be present - didn’t you know? ELENA Lo Iacono just wants to close the case quickly. And he’s doing that with the wrong culprit. SERENA I heard the boy had the man’s DNA under his fingernails- ELENA Yes. But there could be other explanations for that. SERENA Like what? ELENA Franco Bellosi is not a paedophile. If he was his computer would be full of it. But instead there was nothing. SERENA Elena- ELENA I’ve been chasing these people for seven years and I have never been so close. This time they made a mistake, the boy died from anaphylactic shock and that forced them to suddenly change their plans. I can catch them. But I need your help. I have Gilberto’s Instalook user name. I need you to do something for me. Give me access to it. SERENA You know better than I do that that isn’t possible. ELENA Let’s scare them: tell them there’s a network who have used their social media site to groom minors and if they refuse to collaborate we will expose them publicly--- SERENA Are you still seeing doctor Galvani? ELENA What’s that got to do with it now? SERENA Are you or aren’t you? ELENA Yes. Until I went to Venice I regularly attended my weekly sittings. Is that all? SERENA Are you taking your medicines? ELENA What are you trying to say? SERENA I’m not trying to say anything. We’ve been friends for twenty years. I worry about you. ELENA I’m fine. And precisely because we’ve been friends for twenty years, if you have something to say, say it to my face- SERENA Ok. You have to stop with this story. Go to that fucking press conference with Lo Iacono. Close the Ballarin case. Then go to antiterrorism as Mariotti wants. ELENA You’re joking? SERENA I’ve never been so serious. You said it yourself that you’ve been involved in this shit for seven years. And for the last three you’ve thought of nothing else. It’s become your entire life. And it’s not good for you. It wouldn’t be good for anyone. And I think that as your boss. But even more so as your friend. ELENA So you won’t do what I asked? SERENA As I’ve already said, I can’t. ELENA I don’t have my gun here. I’ll get it to you tomorrow. SERENA What does this mean? ELENA That I’m leaving. SERENA Christ Elena, be reasonable. And what do I tell Mairotti? ELENA Send someone who’s right in the head. MATTIA Are you ok? ELENA I’m tired but fine. MATTIA Are you sure everything’s ok? ELENA Yes, I need to look at my files. Are they still in your basement? MATTIA I haven’t moved them. ELENA Do you have the keys? MATTIA Aren’t you taking those with you? ELENA No. I don’t need them any more.