SEARCH TOGETHER

The woman's name was Elena, and her daughter was the pride of the final-year students at Milan's High School-the "entertainment supplier"-Lucia.

Her daughter was truly intelligent and quick-witted; she understood everything instantly. Although her grades weren't always consistent, she would surely manage to get into a good university.

Elena had spent some time in the basement, gripping an iron bar she had taken from upstairs, which she usually used as a rolling pin.

The basement had been built when construction regulations in Milan were scarce, and few knew of its existence. It was meant for hiding certain things.

There was no light, but Elena knew someone was not far from her.

She wasn't supposed to mistreat him; that had been decided from the beginning. She had promised.

She had sworn not to kill him.

But she couldn't hold back.

Not far from her, Professor Rossi made no sound. Although he was tied hand and foot, and his mouth was gagged, it wouldn't have been difficult for him to make noise.

Yet, he remained silent.

His eyes, forced to stay open, endured unbearable pain. Every part of his body was tormented by the bindings, but he continued to remain silent, not uttering a single moan.

Professor Rossi wasn't stupid; he knew that if he screamed, he would only make things worse, irritating his captor.

The day before, in class, he had seen that announcement, with the portrait of the killer who looked eerily like him.

He had been kidnapped that very night, and when he woke up in total darkness, he immediately understood the intentions of the person who had captured him.

At that moment, it was clear that his captor was emotional; anything he said would be useless. He needed to wait for them to calm down.

There was endless information about that case online, and Professor Rossi knew well what could happen if the killer ended up in the hands of the victims' families.

He strained his ears, and when he no longer heard any sounds, he soon perceived footsteps moving away. The person had left.

He breathed a sigh of relief and realized that the female voice sounded vaguely familiar.

There were so many students that, in his nervous state, he hadn't been able to recognize her.

When Elena went back upstairs, Lucia arrived home.

"Mamma!" called Lucia. Seeing her mother's pale face, noticing she didn't seem well, she went into the kitchen to pour her a glass of water. "Mrs. Cinzia stopped by to ask if you could go cook for her."

Elena turned around and saw Cinzia peeking through the door.

"A relative of ours will be visiting next Saturday," Mrs. Cinzia said. "Initially, we thought about eating out, but you know how restaurant food is-too many strong spices, and we're not used to it. I heard from the neighbors that you're a great cook and use mild seasoning, so I was wondering if you could come and cook for us tomorrow. We can agree on the price, and the dishes are simple."

Elena was about to decline.

But, having not opened her shop in recent days and needing money, especially for lunch, she thought that accepting might bring in some income, so she agreed.

"You look so pale, is everything alright? You should take care of your health," said Mrs. Cinzia, adding Elena on WhatsApp to make communication easier.

As they talked, a dull noise came from below.

"Is everything alright down there?"

Lucia replied, "I'll go check."

Elena stopped her, saying, "There's no light down there, it's all dark. Be careful not to fall."

Lucia looked at her and said, "Mamma, you're not smoking meat down in the basement again, are you? We're not in the countryside; we can't do that here. If they find out, it'll be a problem." That basement, closed and hidden, was perfect for smoking meat.

Elena composed herself and nodded.

Mrs. Cinzia interjected, "I tasted your smoked meat once; it had a bit of an odd flavor."

A neighbor, watching the scene from outside, reflected on how, these days, making money had become surprisingly easy-even just by cooking in someone else's home. She wondered if she should ask Elena if she needed help once Mrs. Cinzia left.

That neighbor was over seventy years old, in good health but unable to find work, so she collected cardboard and plastic bottles to sell in the neighborhood. Sometimes Elena would ask her for help at her shop since they had a good relationship.

As soon as she heard talk of smoked meat, the neighbor quickly responded, "Well, you haven't tried our real smoked meat yet! It doesn't have a strange taste, just a good, rich flavor."

Elena intervened, "It doesn't matter if it's good or not, we can't do it. Don't forget that last year, after smoking the meat, the police came looking for you."

Elena shook her head. "I haven't smoked any meat."

The neighbor joked, "If we were to smoke meat, it would fall to me. At my age, if they locked me up, so be it."

Lucia pulled her back and, in a persuasive tone, said, "Eating smoked meat isn't healthy. We should avoid it, especially now that your health isn't in the best shape. Please, try to relax and take care of yourself with my mother."

Mrs. Cinzia quickly added, "I have a friend who knows someone who smokes meat. All you have to do is bring it to them, and for two euros a kilo, they'll smoke it for you. You should ask around."

Lucia, intrigued, asked, "Does that kind of service really exist? My mom and I might go check it out."

Mrs. Cinzia received a phone call, and while picking up the phone, she said, "For now, the lunch job is settled. I have some errands to run, we'll chat on WhatsApp for the rest."

Elena nodded and, out of courtesy, accompanied the woman to the door. After a bit, she seemed to regain composure and gave an approving nod.

Lucia, seemingly unaware of her mother's strange behavior, walked the neighbor back home. She was friendly and kind, maintaining a good relationship with everyone in the neighborhood.

For dinner, she prepared sautéed meat with spinach and a tomato and egg soup.

Elena only ate a few bites, not having much of an appetite.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door.

"Hello, is anyone there?" asked a young male voice.

"Mamma, someone's knocking. I'll go check."

When she opened the door, she saw a young man standing in the doorway.

She recognized him immediately: it was their class teacher's son.

He was still wearing the same clothes as earlier that day. "Hello, I'm Emanuele Rossi. I heard you sell fresh bread and that you get up early to prepare it. I was wondering if you've seen this person."

In his hand, he held a printed photo.

It was, of course, Professor Rossi.

Lucia immediately moved closer. "That's our teacher!"

The young man seemed surprised, "Ah, so you're one of my father's students."

Elena appeared at the door, stopping in the doorway, staring at the young man in front of her.

"Yes," Lucia said, pulling her mother closer to her. "My mom has had the flu these past few days, so she hasn't opened the shop. Regarding your father's disappearance, is there any news? What are the police saying?"

Emanuele, seeing Lucia's concern, replied, "The police are still searching. They say they'll check the online information, but there's nothing concrete yet. I thought I'd go around and see if anyone had seen anything."

Hearing this, Lucia suggested, "Perfect, I just finished washing the dishes. I can come with you to help search. I know the area better than you."

Emanuele, who really needed the help, was very grateful: "Thank you so much."

"No problem." Lucia changed her shoes and followed the young man outside, saying to her mother, "Mamma, don't smoke any meat. I'll be back soon."

Elena nodded, and Lucia left.

Together with the professor's son, they questioned people up and down the street, but they couldn't find any information. Everyone said they hadn't seen him.

Lucia, quick-witted, suggested, "If we ask like this, we probably won't get anywhere. It's better to ask the shops that have security cameras at the entrance."

It was going to be a long and tiring task.

Lucia turned out to be more suited to the search than Emanuele. She started asking to see video footage, especially in the shops near the school.

"The police already came to check, but they didn't find anything," said the shop owner.

"We'd like to check as well."

The shop owner didn't object and gave Lucia access to the footage. It seemed like she was taking control of the situation.

They managed to gather 24 hours of footage from four different shops, and it would take a long time to review it all.

Emanuele breathed a sigh of relief. Although the progress was minimal, at least they had a direction.

He thought that for a senior student like Lucia, it was already a lot for her to offer her help: "I'll watch the footage myself. You have exams in two months, don't get distracted by this."

Lucia responded, "Don't worry, I won't get distracted. If you need any help, just ask. Professor Rossi has been very kind to me, it's the least I can do."

It was already late when Lucia returned home.

As soon as she got back, she told her mother how the search had gone, then took a shower and went to bed.

Elena, however, couldn't sleep. Sitting in the living room, she held an unlocked phone in her hand, scrolling through the photos and social media profile of someone.

If Lucia had been there, she would have noticed that the phone didn't belong to her mother.

On the social profile, the last post read:

"Dad, I don't ask you to become rich, just stay healthy."

There was a photo of a conversation and a bank transfer.

"I just got paid for my tutoring job. Dad, this is for you."

She knew he had a son and that the son was twenty-five years old.

That young man had already finished university and was now pursuing a master's degree, living a successful life.

Her child, however, was dead. He had died in the winter, and now he probably lay in a cold, dark basement, far from the sunlight.

The murderer's son was living a bright life, while her child was gone.

There was no peace for her.

For twenty-five years, she had thought about killing that man.

Now, the murderer was in her basement.

But she couldn't kill him. Not yet. First, she had to find out where he had buried her son.