Luca Moretti's Arc

Chapter 5 of 9

Luca drove past the warehouse before dawn. A newspaper stand stood at the curb, papers stacked neat under a yellow sign. Behind it, the second patrol car idled, half hidden by the metal frame. The cop inside sipped coffee and watched the door. Luca kept driving. He pulled up at the bones of his old front shop. Twisted bars hung where the gate had been, business hours still painted on the rust. He sat in the quiet and pulled a grease-stained ledger from under the seat. He drew six lines. One name per line. Beside each, he wrote the hour he had told that man about the warehouse. Only three names knew before the second patrol car appeared. He crossed off the two who had been with him in the car when he told them. That left one. A man who had been alone with a phone for twenty minutes after. Luca closed the ledger. He did not feel anger yet. He felt the small, cold click of proof landing in place. He started the engine and drove toward the garage. The leak had a name now. The commissioner's net was tighter, but Luca finally had a hand to cut.