Massimo Bellu

Massimo Bellu is Mario Satta’s assistant in the investigation of Giorgio Rabbia’s murder and the kidnapping conspiracy behind it. A concise reporter of facts and a reliable partner in Satta’s inquiries, Bellu helps connect the crime to the Balletto family’s insurance scheme. At the novel’s climax, he shifts from investigation to emergency response, calling for reinforcements and a helicopter as Creasy lies gravely wounded.

At the Crime Scene

Bellu accompanies Satta to the roadside where Giorgio Rabbia’s body has been found in a drainage ditch beside the Milan–Turin motorway. While Satta studies the scene, Bellu supplies the immediate timeline: Rabbia was killed sometime during the previous night, and his body had been discovered only an hour earlier. His measured report contrasts with Satta’s dry observation that the longtime collector has himself been collected, establishing Bellu as the partner who grounds the investigation in specific facts.

When Satta concludes that the killing makes no sense and suspects that it was carried out from outside the usual organization, Bellu presses the unresolved question of who was responsible and why. Satta orders him to obtain Rabbia’s file and every transcript of telephone intercepts from the preceding seventy-two hours. Bellu recognizes that the investigation will consume his evening, but follows the order; his role is both to question gaps in the emerging account and to carry out the work needed to close them.

Tracing the Kidnapping Scheme

The investigation turns toward the earlier kidnapping of Pinta Balletto when the police connect Rabbia and Sandri to the operation and identify Fossella as its organizer. Bellu works with Satta through the resulting inquiries. Although they initially doubt that the bodyguard could be involved, their view changes as they gather information: the bodyguard had been hired as a cheap “premium” bodyguard and was an alcoholic, but a call to the hospital reveals that he has recovered well and is determined to regain his fitness. An inquiry to the agency establishes that he was formerly a mercenary.

Satta’s contacts and standing accelerate the search. While an urgent inquiry is sent to Paris, the policemen trace a connection to Guido Arrellio, owner of the Pensione Splendide in Naples. Immigration records show that the bodyguard left Reggio di Calabria by ferry for Malta six days after leaving hospital, with no recorded return to Italy. Satta also speaks with his Maltese counterpart, George Zammit. Bellu asks what Satta finds interesting and curious, helping keep the significance of these scattered leads in view even before their full meaning is clear.

The insurance arrangement explains why the cheap bodyguard matters. Vico Mansutti has described how security measures can reduce the cost of kidnap insurance, and how a low-cost “premium” bodyguard can satisfy that purpose without being capable of stopping a kidnapping. In the scheme later disclosed to Rika Balletto, Ettore Balletto took out a two-billion-lire policy with Lloyd’s of London; Fossella was to return half the ransom to Ettore, while Vico acted as intermediary and received a commission. Rika had already learned that Creasy was hired for a pittance merely to appease her. Bellu’s investigation helps expose the larger fraud in which that nominal protection served as part of the arrangement rather than a genuine defense for Pinta.

Emergency Response

At the final confrontation, Bellu is still beside Satta when Creasy has been badly wounded and Don Cantarella lies dead. As Guido Arrellio presses cloth against Creasy’s wounds, Bellu asks what he can do. Satta directs him to call for a fully equipped response and to get a helicopter there quickly. Bellu immediately speaks urgently into the phone.

The moment gives Bellu’s practical competence a different urgency from his earlier investigative work. The case has moved from files, intercepted calls, and traced connections to a life that may depend on immediate action. While Satta keeps pressure on Creasy’s wounds and Guido tries to stem the bleeding, Bellu’s call mobilizes the help they need; the novel leaves him performing that task amid the sirens and the failed effort to save Cantarella.