Il banchiere assassinato - Augusto De Angelis

Having recently read Carlo Lucarelli's Carta Bianca, a thriller set in the dying days of Mussolini's Fascist Italy, and looking for something to follow on in my Italian reading, I thought the next stage might be an idea to go back and read one of the originals, an author of crime thrillers who was actually writing during this period. Written in 1935 Augusto De Angelis's first novel Il banchiere assassinato (The Murdered Banker) features his most famous creation Commissioner Carlo De Vincenzi, who would go on to feature in some 20 novels. Despite the popularity of his work, De Angelis found his books banned by the Fascists, was arrested by the authorities in 1943 and died soon after his release from a beating he received while held there.

De Angelis's treatment wasn't unique. It's not as if the first Commissioner De Vincenzi investigation (la prima inchiesta) could be considered politically motivated or anti-Fascist. The Fascist party objected to all crime fiction that showed the proud Italian people indulging in criminal behaviour. And there is indeed evidence of Italians from all parts of society being seen in a particularly negative light in Il banchiere assassinato. A classic of its kind, very much of its time, the first Commissioner De Vincenzi investigation sets the tone for a very distinctive kind of investigator.

One foggy night in Milan, a gentleman walks from La Scala late in the evening to the San Fedele police station where Commissioner De Vincenzi of the squadra mobile, the Flying Squad, is on night shift. The distinguished gentleman is Giannetto Aurigi, a friend of De Vincenzi from their college days, and he appears troubled having suffered financial difficulties from the markets. He wants to talk but is too upset about what his ruination will mean for his future prospects and his engagement to the daughter of Count Marchionni. While he is at the station, De Vincenzi receives a phone call reporting a murder at Aurigi's home.

The murdered man is Mario Garlini, a banker in foreign exchange, the inheritor of the Garlini bank. He has been killed by a shot to the head. Maccari, the officer who received a phonecall and went to the scene of the crime, also found a small flask of prussic acid - cyanide - in an adjoining bathroom. Although technically Aurigi could have committed the crime, turning up afterwards in his agitated state at the police station, De Vincenzi is sure his friend would not have been capable of committing such a heinous crime. To test out his theory, the Commissioner has laid a trap to gauge his friend's reaction to the murder, but although shocked and despite being aware of the flaws in his story, Augiri still refuses to talk.

De Vincenzi knows there is much more to the story and has a sense that it is something dark and complex. But if not Aurigi, who else could have committed the crime? De Vincenzi, we soon discover, is not an investigator who works on intuition. He trusts his instincts, but he needs to find proof to back up his theories and mulls over options, circumstances and pieces of the puzzle that don't fit. The most baffling and troubling of all is his friend’s silence. Although perhaps even stranger is his eventual confession, since he cannot provide any no motive. To add to the problem, his fiancée also confesses to the murder, but neither provide any real reason or explanation. Why are both of them lying? 

De Vincenzi methods are unconventional to say the least. Aside from the opening chapter and a break for the following day, all the action of Il banchiere assassinato takes place at the scene of the crime. There the Commissioner sets traps and tests, after first gaining the permission of his officers to involve themselves in an irregular procedure that would likely have the case thrown out in court. He interrogates each of the people involved - it's a small number who visited the apartment there day of the murder - none of whom think of involving a lawyer, although the Count brings his own English private detective, much to De Vincenzi amusement.

What follows is classic crime fiction of this period with elements and characters that would not be out of place in an Agatha Christie murder. You have a murder victim and a small group of people all present, all of whom are behaving suspiciously, all of whom could have had the opportunity to murder the banker. If De Vincenzi can determine a motive, he will uncover who the murderer is, but in the process of course, he reveals many hidden secrets about respectable people from all walks of society.

Reading notes: I read an Italian language Kindle eBook edition of Il Commissario De Vincenzi. La prima inchiesta. Il banchiere assassinato (Commissioner De Vincenzi. The First Investigation. The Murdered Banker) published by‎ Edizioni Falsopiano.