Como serves as more than a destination in the story: it is the setting for Creasy’s emerging attachment to Pinta, the dispute over his fitness to protect her, and a later conversation in which he tells Guido that he intends to avenge her death. The city’s surrounding hills and domestic spaces mark contrasting turns in Creasy’s life, from a rare moment of peace to a return shaped by loss.

Setting and Daily Life

After an outing in the hills, Creasy and Pinta travel down toward Como at sunset. The fresh air and exercise have made Pinta drowsy; as the car winds down the hills, she curls up and rests her head on Creasy’s lap. He drives home slowly, looking at her sleeping face. The scene gives Como an intimate, domestic association: Creasy, whose expression is usually scarred by brooding, is briefly at peace.

The city also becomes part of Creasy’s effort to regain his physical condition. He has nearly stopped drinking, begun morning exercises, and found a gym in Como that stays open late into the evening. The gym and the repaired fence around the property belong to the practical routine he is building while serving as Pinta’s protector.

The Balletto Household and Its Conflict

Como is where the dispute over Creasy’s appointment becomes explicit. Soon after returning from New York, Rika insists to Ettore that Creasy must go, though Ettore asks why she had been pleased with him. The conversation reveals that the apparent welcome has become unstable, but Rika’s full reason emerges later, when Guido visits the house with Elio.

Vico Mansutti and his wife are present, and Ettore appears subdued by events. Rika, by contrast, is furious: she has learned that Creasy was hired for a pittance merely to appease her. She condemns him to Guido as an alcoholic and a poor choice to protect her daughter, then scorns Ettore. When Elio starts to protest, Guido silences him; the two men collect Creasy’s belongings and leave. In this episode, Como’s household setting turns a concealed arrangement into an open rupture.

Return and Revenge

Later, after dinner, Creasy and Guido sit talking at length on a terrace in the warm night. Creasy explains what he intends to do, without presenting it as a question of justice or punishment. Guido understands the motive: people precious to Creasy have been killed, and Creasy means to kill in return. The terrace conversation gives Como a second, darker domestic meaning. The place associated earlier with Pinta asleep beside Creasy now frames his resolve to act against those responsible for her loss.