47 Under a magnifying glass, part 2

She didn't show it, but Vittorio knew that Mother was disappointed when the inspector declared he would dine in his room instead of at the common table. But Vittorio was glad. When Antonio expressed a desire to dive into the ledgers straight away, he thought it meant that he would leave as soon as possible.

Next morning, sitting at his father's desk with a head propped on his hand, Vittorio found how deeply mistaken he was.

"Young signore, can you kindly explain me this?" Antonio put a massive accounting book in front of Vittorio. He perked up, examining the neat lines. The dates came to the last year, and Antonio's finger pointed at the column names. "This. What logic stands behind your father's decision to sort columns this way?"

Vittorio read them, then raised his eyes to Antonio's face.

'Like a dried fish,' he thought, doing a terrible job of hiding his sourness.