Chi l'ha visto?

On Monday 23 February, at seven in the morning, there were four television vans parked on the Regina at the northern edge of Laglio, two wheels up on the pavement, their dishes opened to the sky like umbrellas blown inside out. A fifth was trying to squeeze in. The school buses couldn't get through. Luogotenente Corti sent two men to direct the traffic and Teresa Malnati to the office, where the phone had been ringing since six.

She took the call from Rome at a quarter past eight. A young woman from “Chi l'ha visto?”, the missing-persons programme, pleasant, precise, who had done her homework. The programme had shown Chiara Varenghi's photo three times in 2014 and once a year ever since, on the anniversary of the fireworks. Their viewers had a right to know. They weren't asking for much: one picture. The first picture of the young woman who had come back. From a distance, if the family preferred. Could the maresciallo put in a word?