Rings of Fear (Enigma rosso)

As usual. When I'm looking for you, I end up in a supermarket.

Of course. I've run out of tea.

OK, but...

The things you buy should go in here.

Not in there.

You're right. Only I'm not buying anything.

Oh, well, in that case...

Do you want me to make you a cup of mint tea?

Oh, yes, please.

Just make it the right way.

Why? Do you have rules for making tea?

Definitely!

First, warm the teapot.

Then, put in one spoon of tea for each person, and one forthe pot.

Lastly, pour hot water on the tea.

But the most important thing is to use tea that's stolen.

Why do you have to steal?

Forfun.

You naughty girl.

Yes?

Holy fuck!

I'll be there in ten minutes.

I'm sorry. I'm very sorry, but I have to go.

Will you be here when I get back?

You got me used to waiting for you.

Thanks.

-L'll take care of the cats. Bye. - Bye.

Stand back. Passing is forbidden.

- Hi. - Hi. I got here as quickly as I could.

When they told me you weren't at your office, I felt lost.

What do you have here?

Young girl, 16 or 17 years old. They found her corpse half an hour ago.

- Murder or suicide? - Murder.

Her underbelly has an ugly gash this long.

So we're working together again.

The ballast presumably broke off, then the corpse floated up.

The coroner has already looked her over.

Right.

Of course, Chief, only the necropsy will allow me to be more precise.

Yet this girl was likely 16 or 17 years old.

TOD is probably yesterday afternoon,

say, 18 to 20 hours ago at most.

There's a large laceration on her underbelly

which was caused by a blunt object.

It led to a massive hemorrhage and consequently to her death.

All right. Now it's up to you

to find out who she was. I'm going back to the office.

In spite of everything,

these kinds of things still upset me.

Listen, Lopopolo. Do me a favor.

Have the rope and the plastic sack delivered to my office.

I also need the list of all the girls gone missing in the last week.

C'mon. Let's not waste time. It must be ready for this evening.

You, too. It needs a new paintjob.

Shift yourselves.

This way.

Take heart.

Angela! Angela, no!

They killed my Angela! No!

No! Angela! Angela!

No!

Angela!

Come on, let's go.

Mommy.

We're making some progress, right?

Yeah. Her name was Angela Russo.

She was 16 years old.

She was a student.

That's her mother and her little sister.

- How did she die? - Someone ripped up her insides.

It's as if a beast possessed her.

I'd never seen anything like it. Really disgusting.

- Was the weapon a dildo? - Yeah. Some hard object like that.

The internal hemorrhage caused her death.

- Are you on your way to the office? - Yeah.

Down, down.

I sentAngela to a boarding school

so that she wouldn't miss her father.

And did you give her an allowance?

Yes, a small one.

Just some pocket money.

Tell me.

Did Angela have a boyfriend?

Was she seeing anyone in particular?

I didn't get that impression.

On the weekends, she was at home

or with those other school girls.

They were inseparable, Angela, Franca, Paola and Virginia.

Pass the ball.

- Over here. - Let's go!

- Hurry up! - Go now!

Throw it now.

- Come on! - Shoot it, come on!

Well done, Paola!

Come on, pass that ball!

This one was out, hey!

- Pass it! - Come on!

- Come on, pass it! - Paola, here I am!

- Give it to me. Yes! - Over here.

- Throw it over here. - No, no.

- Hold on. - Throw it over here. Now!

- Walk in line. - Now, come on!

- Come on, pass it! - Pass it to me. Right away!

- Go on. - Place yourself there.

- Turn about! - Keep the pace.

'Run! - Huf'ry up.

- Mark her! Mark her! - No!

If you'll come with me, I'll show you around the school

and you can meet the teachers.

- Thank you. - This way.

Let me point out again that this is not our normal procedure.

Yeah, well...

ls it normal for your pupils to die that way?

- Hold on! - Go on!

In case you don't know,

we are considered the best boarding school in town.

We only accept girls from the best families.

Angela's parents were separated.

That wasn't an issue for us.

We just ask families to regularly pay for school.

Come on in.

There it is. In the fifth row. That is Angela Russo's desk.

- This one? - Yes.

She was a below average student.

And, as per our practice,

she slept in the same room with two of our best students.

It sounds like a really good practice.

I only hope that what's happened won't harm our reputation.

We won!

Do you remember the names of these two girls?

Of course. Paola Maffei and Virginia Brini.

The last to take her clothes off is a bitch.

- Today I couldn't make a shot. - When could you ever make shots?

Get out of my way!

- The first shower is mine. - Sure. That with hot water.

Paola, Franca!

Now...

Now it's over.

Come on. Stay strong for a few more days.

If it's OK with you, I'll take you to the teachers' pool.

I don't like to keep them waiting.

- Sure. - This way.

- Good morning. - Good morning, Ms. Principal.

- Who's that man? - Pretty handsome!

- Yeah, you like all men. - Wasn't he handsome?

Ms. Principal's found a lover!

- Professor Sattaro, Mathematics. - Nice to meet you.

Professor Mandelli, Greek.

- And Latin, too. - He's also our Assistant Principal.

I see.

Professor Nada Ponente, Italian.

Nice to meet you.

Reverend Carlo Mariani,

our Religion teacher and the school confessor.

Professor Max van der Weyden,

- English and German. - Nice to meet you.

Professor Giulio Riva, Educational Gymnastics and Sports.

Nice to meet you.

Sorry. I'm Umberto Conti, History and Philosophy.

I thought the meeting was in Ms. Principal's office. Excuse me.

That's OK.

Excuse my ignorance, I'm not familiar with elite schools,

but what are the teachers' habits?

- Do they sleep here? - It depends.

- Not necessarily... - I don't, for example.

I don't like to sleep here.

But others like it.

Do the students always sleep here?

The students can sleep at home whenever they want.

We are quite a liberal school.

I see. Very progressive.

And very beautiful, too. The glass windows downstairs are amazing.

They were made in the 18th century. The school at that time was...

Someone killed Angela with a cock this big

and threw her in the river.

Stop it. Please, stop it.

We've all read the papers,

so spare us the details.

Of course. Such a violent death

isn't good for the reputation of Santa Teresa d'Avila school.

Is it? What do you have to say?

Hey. Hey! Stop!

It's very important.

Wait for me behind those trees, but don't let anybody see.

OK.

Yes, it's true. You got it wrong.

Can I really trust you?

Well... I am a police officer.

Here. This was my sister's handbag.

So... Don't you look at what's inside?

- Have you already looked in it? - Of course.

Thank you.

How did she get so much money?

Well, try asking them. They were her best friends.

So what have you decided?

- Let's meet there on Saturday. - That works for me.

- Does it OK for you? - Yep.

Saturday, May 20.

Saturday, May 27.

This is strange. Every Saturday the same cat.