He was early for his appointment with Valente. He stopped in front of the restaurant where he’d gone the last time he was in Mazàra. He gobbled up a sauté of clams in bread-crumbs, a heaping dish of spaghetti with white clam sauce, a roast turbot with oregano and caramelized lemon, and he topped it all off with a bitter chocolate timbale in orange sauce. When it was all over he stood up, went into the kitchen, and shook the chef’s hand without saying a word, deeply moved. In the car, on his way to Valente’s office, he sang at the top of his lungs: “Guarda come dondolo, guarda come dondolo, col twist …”

*The Snack Thief, Andrea Camilleri