Pirlo, who, other than working at the local pharmacy, served as altar boy, carriedthe ponderous crucifix at the head of the funeral procession.Father Giacomo followed behind.A second altar boy, equally in black cassock and white surplice, walkedbeside the priest, to his right, carrying the aspergillum used to sprinkle holy water.They moved slowly, reverentially, as if in deep prayer, the priest mumbling someinaudible words.Among the throng of mourners, moving with muted demeanor and wearing a simple browntunic knotted at the waist with rough-hewn cord, was a nun; eyes castearthward, face girdled in the freshly laundered cloth of a white wimple, andhead covered with black veil. Her unassuming deportment belied her obviousbeauty and noble bearing.She was tall, and dark-skinned, but with undertones of a coppery brown; irradiantwhen, on occasion, she would lift her head - long, thin, and oval - towards themorning sun. Her eyes, almond-shaped and dark, were keen, intelligent, andbetrayed a strength of character which is typically built upon incessant trials- adversity, hardship, suffering, the overcoming of terrible events.

Colonel Emilio Gariboldi is a veteran of the Second Italo-Abyssinian War. An idealist as a young man, he had hoped toemulate his hero Italo Balbo and hence joined the Italian air force.A fatal encounter with an enemy intruder while encamped with his unit on the heights of an elevated plateau near the northernEthiopian town of Axum changes his life forever.The discovery of the body of a young black woman prisoner found in bed next to him cements his embroilment with a criminalorganization involved in human trafficking.Almost two decades later, another young black girl is found dead at the foot of the Terzano Tower in Campobasso.