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Fortunato has insulted me a hundred times, and I have ignored them, time and again. I smiled in his favor and continued about my day, not allowing his words to impact me. But when he decided to insult my husband, that was a matter that could not be ignored nor forgiven. Hannibal is a man of virtue and intelligence far beyond that of Fortunato. The fool should be grateful that Hannibal has ever given him a moment’s consideration. Instead, Fortunato perceived it not that Hannibal is a man better than he.
As I said before, I was able to ignore all the insults that were aimed at me. But, insulting Hannibal is unforgivable and I intended to have revenge on his behalf. There would be a reckoning. However, revenge must be sought with extreme caution, and so in the meantime, Hannibal and I continued to treat Fortunato as if nothing has changed. We both laughed at his jests, but deep down my laughter was at the knowledge that one day soon, Fortunato’s existence would cease.
Fortunato, who was respected by many, and even feared by some, had many vices but his one true weakness was for wines, particularly that of Chateau Lafite. He was knowledgeable but his knowledge of wines, in truth, was no match for Hannibal’s. Fortunato, however, believed otherwise and it was with this assertion, that he was wiser than Hannibal, that he had insulted my husband. It was widely known that Hannibal is a true connoisseur of wines and when anyone had any questions about a wine, many would consult Hannibal, but as I said before, Fortunato was a fool.
One evening, during the holiday season, I ran into Fortunato. He was in quite a merry mood; he had been out with friends and drinking quite heavily and was intoxicated. He greeted me warmly, albeit with slightly slurred speech, and I was polite in return.
“My good man, William, what are you doing here?”
“Just enjoying the festivities. It would seem you are enjoying yourself as well, Fortunato.”
“Indeed, indeed,” Fortunato exclaimed, as he gave my shoulder a hearty slap, and then proceeded to take another sip of his alcohol. “How is your husband? Is he not with you tonight?”
“Unfortunately, he had to attend to some business out of town. Which puts me in a slight predicament that, perhaps, you would be able to provide your assistance with?”
“How so?”
“Well, you see….as I stated, Hannibal is out of town and I came across a bottle of Chateau Lafite, which I know both you and Hannibal agree in the exquisiteness of….”
“Chateau Lafite?!”
“Yes...and, I’m not as well-versed in wines as you or Hannibal, and I really wanted to get it as a gift for my husband for our upcoming anniversary….”
“You have Chateau Lafite?”
“That’s what I need your help with, Fortunato, I am a bit doubtful that it is authentic. I paid the full amount for it because I didn’t want to miss out on the opportunity, as I said, it is a gift for my husband. But if it’s not the real thing….he will know automatically.”
This caused Fortunato to laugh loudly which led to a coughing fit. I looked at Fortunato with concern, “You are not sounding too well; perhaps it will be just fine; you should go home and get some rest.”
“Nonsense! I am fine and am more than happy to take a look at the Chateau Lafite for you. Not that it would matter much; it is doubtful to me that your husband would ever know the difference between the real Chateau Lafite and some fake.”
It was all I could do to not cut his throat at that very moment, daring to claim that he was better than my husband, and to my face! I remained calm, however, knowing that in just a few hours, I would no longer have to hear this man’s voice nor listen to such insults be uttered from his mouth.
“Fortunato, if you are ill, you should rest. The wine is not as important as your health.”
Fortunato coughed a few more times, then patted my back, “Come, come, I will have a look at the wine. My health is not so bad that it will cause me to die; it’s just a cough.”
“Okay, if you are sure, but if you change your mind, let me know.”
We walked to my car and I drove us to the home that Hannibal and I had built in the countryside of Montefalco. It was a modest house, from the outside, with the Lecter family crest embedded into the masonry to the right of the front door. The inside was opulent and spacious, to Hannibal’s specifications. I led him through the living room, the dining room and into the kitchen, to the cellar door, “When we had our home built," I explained, "we decided to have multiple floors beneath ground level. We use the lowest level as our wine cellar, where we keep the area chilled.” I paused, and turned to him, “Are you sure you wish to go down? The cold may aggravate your cough.”
“Bah!” Fortunato exclaimed, “It’s just a cough. A sip of the Chateau Lafite, if it is indeed Chateau Lafite, may actually clear it up.”
At this, I chuckled. “Fair enough, my friend. To the cellar we go.” I opened the door and began the descent down the stone steps, to the first level. Due to the floor plans of the home, to the unknowing, it would seem we only have a single basement at the bottom of the stairs. We had to traverse the room, which was relatively dark, even with the overhead light turned on. In the far corners, the outlines of machines could barely be seen, appearing to be just big shadows hidden among more shadows. I heard Fortunato shiver behind me. “Are you sure you feel up to this, Fortunato?”
“Yes, yes; it’s just a bit chilly. But, let us keep going.”
I withdrew a flask from my pocket, “Here, take a sip of this, it should help.” I handed the flask to Fortunato who gratefully took a drink of the warming whiskey.
“Thank you, that certainly helped,” he replied as he handed the flask back to me.
I walked over to a workbench that was against a wall and moved what would appear, to a random visitor, to be a hammer. However, in doing so, this caused a hidden door to open, exposing a set of stairs leading further down beneath the home, which we then descended. As we approached the landing, Fortunato paused, coughing, his hand gripping the railing.
“Let’s return, Fortunato. I don’t wish for you to become sicker than you are.”
After the coughing fit had ceased, Fortunato shook his head, “No, it is fine; I’m already here, we might as well continue.”
I nodded, “True.” Before we continued, I pointed out across the room that the landing leads to. “This is an extension of our pantry; we keep many canned goods and spices here. Hannibal also stores our meat down here, for future use. Through the doors across the way is a large walk-in freezer. Perhaps you can feel the chill even from here.”
Fortunato gave another shiver, “Yes, I can; the temperature seems like it has dropped.”
“It has; we must keep the temperature in these areas low; it helps us with preserving the meats. But, if it is too much for you….”
“No, I am fine.”
We continued to the lowest level beneath the house. Here, the walls and floor were dirt and there was a narrow pathway, like a tunnel. I picked up an LED lantern that sits on a table next to the stairs and turned it on. “We haven’t gotten the electricity wired to this area quite yet, so we must use some other light source," I shrugged, "I have a fondness for lanterns.”
“Where are we,” asked my friend.
“This is our wine cellar. At the far end we have a vault where we keep our most precious wines; we’re almost there.”
“Almost to the Chateau Lafite.”
“Yes. The Chateau Lafite,” I replied. “Be careful down here, the ground is uneven.”
As we began to walk the length of the tunnel, Fortunato began humming a bit to himself, and then as if a thought had just come to him, he asked, “William, I realized I have never inquired about the meaning of the family crest. I saw it when we first entered your house.”
“It is a venomous snake being fought by two mongooses. Most people are, understandably, afraid of venomous snakes because of the danger they pose. Mongooses, however, are known for taking on that threat and killing it.”
“And the motto?”
“Ille qui inhumanus est, comedetur”
At this, Fortunato remained silent for a while as we proceeded further into the tunnel. Was he contemplating, for the first time, the risk he had placed himself into? I doubt he had such insight considering his level of intoxication. After a bit, he began to cough once again. I stopped walking and turned toward him, “Are you sure you are okay?”
Once the coughing ceased, he replied in a raspy voice, “I’m fine.” Then he gave a odd hand gesture, one which I was unfamiliar with. When I did not reply, he responded, “Are you not a mason?!”
“Oh, I am indeed a mason, Fortunato.”
“If so, prove it.”
WIth that, I took a small trowel from my left cargo pocket, to which he chuckled, “Oh William, you have such a dry, but fantastic sense of humor. I do appreciate it. Come, let’s continue on to the Chateau Lafite. I can almost taste it!”
We proceeded the rest of the way to the end of the tunnel, mostly in silence, with the only sound being Fortunato’s shoes occasionally scraping the dirt floor, as he was unsteady in his gait. At the end of the tunnel was a brick wall, but there was an opening in the middle, where a door should be. “The Chateau Lafite is just in there Fortunato, go in and have a look.”
As he entered the area that was partially walled off, I carefully set the lantern on the floor at my feet. In the room, Fortunato looked to his right and then his left, a bit confused. Just as he turned toward me, I shoved the fool back against the wall, startling him. Before he knew what had happened, I had snapped both of his wrists in cuffs that had been hanging from the back wall. In his eager drunken desire for the Chateau Lafite, he had not even noticed they were there before it was too late. His first reaction was to laugh, “William, you have pulled a wonderful prank. We will have great laughs about this later, as we retell this story to friends. But, you can uncuff me now, so I can see the Chateau Lafite.”
“Here is the problem, Fortunato, there is no Chateau Lafite, at least none that you will be trying tonight.”
Oh how quickly a person can begin to sober up. Fortunato had already began to come to his senses. “I’m not sure I understand. Nevertheless, release me and we can return to town and have a drink and laugh about this entire thing.”
I ignored Fortunato’s pleas. Instead, I took out a pair of Hannibal’s forceps from my right cargo pocket and approached Fortunato. He could see the look on my face had changed from one of congeniality to disgust and he realized the serious predicament he was in. “For the love of God, William!”
“Yes, for the love of God,” I replied and then I pinched his nose closed until he had no choice but to open his mouth to take a breath and when he did, I quickly grabbed his tongue with the forceps. Once I had secured his tongue, I released his nose and took out a sharp scalpel from my right cargo pocket and I slipped off the plastic covering. “You see, Fortunato, many times you have made snide remarks, comments, insults, all disguised as jokes about me, but each time I let it go. However, you then insulted Hannibal, you dared to say that you were better than he, which is something I cannot forgive. You even tried to convince others of the same; of course everyone knows better. You have been discourteous and discourtesy is unspeakably ugly. Ille qui inhumanus est, comedetur”
With one quick motion, I used the scalpel to sever Fortunato’s tongue. His screams were loud, but I knew no one would hear him down here so I worried not. I placed the tongue in a small bag and placed it in my pocket, along with the scalpel and forceps. I wasn’t worried about getting his blood on my clothes; I had intentionally worn clothes that I knew were old and that I would burn later.
After everything was put away, I slowly, meticulously set to work at sealing the doorway to the room that Fortunato was in. Brick by brick, I closed the doorway until there was a small opening, just enough for one last brick. By this point, Fortunato was quiet with just the occasional whimper. I lifted the lantern and looked into the room; I could tell the bleeding had already stopped. He looked up at me, with a pleading look on his face. He attempted to say “please” but was unable to. I placed the final brick in place and returned upstairs.
An hour later, just as I was finishing up with dinner, Hannibal arrived home. “You’re making dinner for me? This is new,” he said as he walked over to me, giving me a small kiss.
“This will not become a regular thing. It’s just a surprise I have for you; consider it an early anniversary gift.”
“I would never expect it to become a regular thing. I enjoy watching you take pleasure from my cooking too much to allow you to cook regularly, mylimas.”
I gave him a small smile as I replied, “Dinner will be ready in just a few minutes.”
As Hannibal left the kitchen to put his coat away, I began to plate the food, red wine braised tongue with an arugula salad. Hannibal entered the dining room just as I was placing the plates on the table. I then poured each of us a glass of Chateau Lafite, took my seat, and raised my glass; “I’d like to make a toast, to old friends, good food, and good wine”