Inert as Life Is

Suddenly the correspondence between Padua and the Del Re “family” ceases. It is perhaps precisely in this period that a mysterious event occurs: Caccioppoli suddenly disappears. All trace of him is lost for days. I looked for evidence of what happened in my visits to the State Archives, but in vain. Yet this episode that is so disturbing and revealing of Renato’s personality certainly took place, and my grandmother’s stories provide me with a small detail.