Fela

Fela is presented as the home of the Sinagra gang and one of the two places caught in its territorial conflict with the Cuffaro gang of Vigàta. The latest reported killing there helps establish the war’s pattern and prompts Montalbano to suspect that a newly discovered dead man belongs to the Cuffaros.

Identification and Setting

The narrative identifies Fela through its association with the Sinagra gang, whose members came from there. It gives no further description of the place; its significance in the investigation is conveyed through that connection and through the violence unfolding between the rival groups.

Fela in the Gang War

Montalbano recalls that a territorial dispute had set off a fierce war between the Vigàta Cuffaros and the Sinagra gang eight months earlier. The killings followed a grimly regular sequence: one victim each month, alternating between Vigàta and Fela. The most recent victim, Mario Salino, had been shot in Fela by the Vigàta gang members. That killing made the next turn appear to belong to the Cuffaros.

Role in the Investigation

While showering, Montalbano uses this retaliatory pattern to form an initial theory about the dead man: he must be a Cuffaro member. Fela therefore anchors one side of the cycle of violence that guides his first interpretation. The conclusion is an inference based on the apparent sequence of killings, rather than confirmation of the dead man’s identity.