[R1999] Short Stories' Collection

A chaotic incident in Sicily (11)

"Maybe I can find a new kind of toffee there." Sonetto rubbed her chin with a smile.

"Okay, everyone." Vertin looked at her companions and clapped her hands, "Now we should begin our mission so that we can rest soon."

The departure of Zanelli had restored the amount of monitoring eyes around them. To fool those eyes, they just needed to act normally as a bunch of amateur investigators who were sloppy at work following Mozzoni's suggestion.

While they were still in the car, they had decided to divide their group into three small teams. Team 1 with Pavia, Sonetto, Vertin and Necrologist would conduct the interrogation. Team 2 with Tennant and Balloon Party was in charge of collecting the latest information about fights, feuds or massacres that had the same scale as the one in Taormina. Team 3 with a sole member, Click, would secretly follow Zanelli and Mozzoni from behind as well as observe their surroundings to clarify the relationship between those two people and keep an eye on the old lady.

'Now I'm not different from an ordinary journalist.' 

As he lowered his existence and floated some distance behind the current and former Sicily's Chief, the ghost photographer nonchalantly thought. Next, he checked the current film roll and as if remembering something, scratched his curly hair.

'Oh, there is no war now. So, I'm actually an ordinary journalist.'

In another direction, Tennant had sent her third wink and began a fourth conversation with another lady on the west street. At the end of each conversation, she gave them a small gift. Some received different kinds of sparkling gems that matched with their outfits or their hobbies, some received a beautiful red rose branch. Regardless of their ages, they all shared a blushing face after bidding the woman wearing a wide-brimmed hat and trousers farewell.

Tennant also received return gifts from them, in which there was a small paper sticking inside a box of frutta martorana. 

[This is an invitation to a date at the coffee bar on the south street for la signora. Remember to bring a white plumeria as a token.

From M]

She took a quick glance at the note and smiled mysteriously. 

"Here's your treat."

Tennant passed some sweets to Balloon Party's hands.

"Thanks!" The girl's light gray eyes sparkled.

On the crowded street, more and more identical red balloons appeared on each kid's hand. The news about a girl with outstanding appearance handing out free balloons gradually spread among the children. Even some adults also heard about it. 

After walking for a while, Balloon Party suddenly stopped and pointed at a colorful ice cream shop.

"Can I go there to buy an ice cream? Pleaseee." 

The girl deliberately lengthened the last sound with round eyes.

"Alright." Tennant nodded in compromise with the girl, "You can go there while I come to the opposite flower shop to buy some flowers for the ladies. If you've done your business sooner than me, meet me at the flower shop and vice versa."

"Okay!" Balloon Party jumped up and down in excitement.

The two entered each shop respectively before the stalkers' eyes. Soon, from the crowd, a man wearing casual clothes and a woman with some freckles on both cheeks also entered the same shops as them.

Turning back to the office, there was a special cell that could disable the arcanum of anything inside it. Through the glass, the team saw the main culprit of their original mission, Giovanni Ferrozas, lying on the ground, curling up and facing the white wall.