Rome is more than a destination in Creasy’s revenge campaign: it is identified as Conti’s base and becomes a temporary operational hub, supplied with a rented apartment and a separately garaged car. The city links the Mafia’s distribution of ransom proceeds to Creasy’s planned attack, then marks the point at which he intends to sever contact and leave no fixed base behind.

Rome in the Mafia’s Network

Creasy explains the hierarchy surrounding the kidnapping to Guido: Fossella and Abrata are the two principal bosses in Milan, Fossella arranged the abduction, and Conti in Rome would receive a share. Cantarella in Palermo, at the top of this account, takes a portion of everything. The allocation of proceeds makes Rome part of a network rather than an isolated setting; the city is connected to the kidnapping through Conti’s anticipated cut, and Creasy explicitly includes Conti among those who will pay for the killing.

This account gives Rome a precise narrative position. It is neither the origin of the kidnapping nor the seat of the final boss described by Creasy, but an intermediate power center in the chain he intends to confront. Guido already knows Conti and says he will explain his own reasons for not regretting what happens to him later. Rome thus carries both strategic weight for Creasy and a personal significance for Guido that remains, at this point, undisclosed.

A Temporary Base

As Creasy prepares for the campaign, Guido provides five bunches of keys, two street maps, and a folder of addresses. The keys correspond to rented properties and vehicles, including an apartment in Rome and a Renault 20 kept in a garage two blocks away. The separation between lodging and vehicle gives the Roman arrangement a practical structure: the car is not parked at the apartment but can be collected from a distinct location.

The Rome apartment and car belong to a larger network of temporary resources. Guido says the properties and vehicles have been rented for three months, with the rental period already under way for ten days. He describes the properties as provisioned with canned food and other supplies; the maps mark the relevant addresses, while the folder holds them in written form. Creasy checks that the preparations include what he needs, and Guido’s delivery turns a broad plan into a set of usable places, keys, routes, and provisions.

The arrangements are designed to keep their real organizer at a distance. Guido says the apartments and cottage were rented by Remarque in Brussels under a false name, with an intermediary between them, while the cars were rented under the name Luigi Racca. Racca, Guido explains, is a widower visiting his daughter in Australia and will not return for months. The layered identities and separation of responsibilities show that the Roman base is meant to support movement without making the resources immediately traceable to Guido.

The Planned Operation and Departure

Creasy’s Roman preparations serve a defined phase of the campaign. He tells Guido that after Conti in Rome he will be entirely on his own, with no contact and no fixed base. By then, he expects to have discarded both cars and the van. Guido understands the reason: the police and Cantarella may identify Creasy as the person carrying out the killings, trace him back to Guido, and question him. Creasy intends to prevent that possibility by ending the connection before the investigation can use it.

The city is therefore both a staging point and a boundary. Its apartment and Renault support the operation, but they are temporary assets rather than the beginnings of a lasting refuge. Once Conti has been dealt with, Creasy plans to relinquish the mobility and shelter Guido has arranged and continue without a known point of contact. The logistical care invested in Rome is paired with a deliberate plan to abandon its advantages.

Narrative Significance

Rome concentrates two strands of the story in one location: the Mafia’s financial chain and the practical mechanics of Creasy’s retaliation. Conti’s place in the distribution of the ransom makes the city relevant to the criminal structure Creasy has mapped; the apartment, marked addresses, and Renault make it relevant to the physical execution of his campaign. The location is rendered through arrangements and relationships rather than a description of its streets or landmarks.

That functional presentation also gives Rome a role in the changing partnership between Creasy and Guido. Guido’s preparations are detailed enough to sustain Creasy’s next move, while the planned cutoff acknowledges the danger those same preparations could bring to the friend who made them. Rome is the point where their cooperation becomes operationally concrete—and where Creasy sets a limit on how long that cooperation can safely continue.