In the silence of the Bellano night, Giorgio Tormen, a geologist and single father, lives among topographical maps and suspended memories, in a house that reflects his orderly solitude. An unexpected phone call from Marina, a woman from his past and the voice of an unsolved mystery, reopens a chapter he thought closed.
Their story, born amidst landslides and Alpine valleys, intertwines with an investigation that delves beneath the snow and into their consciences. As he packs his backpack to climb back up to Foppolo, Giorgio must confront his own fear and the fragile, silent love for his daughter Chiara, a teenager torn between dreams and awareness. The night grows long, the lake falls silent, and dawn promises answers that will change everything.
The Enigma of the Abandoned House of Foppolo – Chapter 6.2: Marina’s Call
Stories. The Enigma of the Abandoned House of Foppolo – Chapter 6.2: Marina’s Call
Giorgio Tormen sat beside the pellet stove in his stone-and-wood house overlooking Lake Como, in the village of Bellano — halfway between the gentle embrace of the water and the harshness of the mountains. His home wasn’t large, but every detail spoke of him: darkened exposed beams, shelves packed with technical books and old speleology journals, an entire wall lined with carefully rolled topographic maps. In one corner stood a large oak table, serving both as desk and drafting surface, scattered with pens, compasses, and small tools for rock analysis. On the windowsill, several glass jars held sands and stones catalogued from his travels.
Outside, the night had turned to velvet blue, and the lake shimmered faintly under the moon — calm, as if asleep. Giorgio held a cup of cold coffee in his hands, unable to stop thinking about Marina’s voice — that unexpected, yet somehow inevitable phone call.
They had met almost by accident — or perhaps by fate.
It was the summer of 2018, unbearably hot, and Giorgio was giving a seminar on mountain erosion and karstic fractures at a conference in San Pellegrino. Marina had been there as a speaker for an environmental association, but during a break she approached him, intrigued by a few slides showing abandoned tunnels in Val Brembana....
