Piero Morini and Jean-Claude Pelletier's Friendship

Piero Morini and Jean-Claude Pelletier’s friendship is a quiet source of affection and steadiness in a narrative shaped by distance, uncertainty, and loss. Pelletier values Morini not for dramatic declarations but for his warmth, intelligence, and discretion; when Morini disappears from their immediate reach, that trust is tested by the friends’ fear and their recognition that his choices remain his own.

Friendship Renewed

After Pelletier and Manuel Espinoza return to their work following the violent episode in London, they resume conferences, reading, and travel, and get back in touch with Morini, whom they had first sidelined and then forgotten during their adventures. They find him in somewhat worse health than usual, but still warm, intelligent, and discreet. He asks no questions and demands no confidences about what they have been through.

One night Pelletier tells Espinoza that Morini is like a gift to them. The thought strikes him as sentimental, but Espinoza agrees with its substance. Their friendship with Morini is not presented as an exchange of explanations or favors: his tact allows the two men to return without interrogation, while their renewed attention draws him back into a circle from which they had let him drift. They resume calling Norton as well, and the three meet in a tiny gallery cafeteria on Hyde Park Gate, near the Dutch embassy.

The Disappearance from Montreux

The friendship’s balance changes after the visit to Edwin Johns. The three men return to Montreux and stay at the Hotel Helvetia. That evening Espinoza calls Morini, but receives no answer; Pelletier asks about the call when they meet in the lobby. They assume Morini has gone to bed. In fact, while Pelletier and Espinoza are dining, Morini checks out at midnight and asks the hotel desk to arrange a car. The clerk cannot say where he went.

The next morning Pelletier and Espinoza find Morini gone. They check hospitals around Montreux, travel by train to Geneva, and call his Turin apartment from the airport, reaching only his answering machine. After returning to their own cities, they exchange messages and repeatedly call Morini. Their concern escalates over several days: they consider flying to Turin and notifying the authorities, but hesitate, unwilling to act rashly or treat a mature friend as though he were incapable of deciding for himself. Pelletier also contacts the University of Turin, with no useful result.

Concern, Silence, and Relief

Pelletier and Espinoza eventually agree to let a few days pass, trying to quiet each other’s fears and acknowledging that Morini is free to do as he wishes. Their restraint does not end their anxiety: Espinoza calls the university again, and Pelletier later raises whether they should tell Norton. They decide to protect Morini’s privacy until they have more concrete information.

Two days later Pelletier calls Morini’s apartment and hears his friend answer. His first reaction is astonishment; the familiar voice brings relief and the sensation of waking from a bad dream. Pelletier interrupts the conversation to say that he must inform Espinoza immediately. This episode shows the intimacy of the friendship through practical acts—calls, searches, and shared worry—rather than through demands that Morini account for his movements.

A Separate Journey

When Morini considers joining Pelletier and Espinoza in their renewed search for Benno von Archimboldi in Sonora, he first imagines the trip as a modest homage to Marcel Schwob and Robert Louis Stevenson. Back in Turin, however, he concludes that travel is beyond his strength. He tells Pelletier and Espinoza that his doctor has forbidden the trip, a lie they accept; he promises to write every day, and they promise to call regularly with news of the search.

Morini gives Norton a different version of the same refusal, repeating that he cannot go and making a joke she does not understand. She seems hurt by his decision, and the two do not call each other again. The text distinguishes this strain from the friendship between Morini and Pelletier: Morini’s companions accept his explanation and maintain their contact, while his refusal also marks the beginning of a private voyage. It leads not to Sonora, but to a form of resignation described as a profound humility in which Morini’s sense of himself gradually dissolves. Pelletier’s friendship cannot prevent that inward withdrawal; its tenderness is shown instead in the care with which he searches, waits, and respects the boundary Morini has placed around his life.