"Yes, Signore."
He set the phone down and stood for a long time with his hand on the receiver.
Someone had got to Armani. Not Dante, because Dante would have gone for the doctor himself, and Dante did not know where the doctor was. Someone quieter. Someone who had known where to look and what to take and how to leave very little behind.
It was a short list. He did not care for the name at the top of it.
...
The aide came back at nine that night.
Antonio was at his desk with the lamp finally lit. He had not eaten.
"It's done," the aide said. "The courier is closed. Every registration was withdrawn by six. Armani's file has been removed from three registries, and the fourth is in progress. The Naples depot has been emptied. The stock is in the cold room at Frascati."
"Good."
