Ice Dread

Ice Storm. A smooth, wet layer of ice covers the streets, making it impossible to walk. The orthopedic department of the hospital where Roversi works is suddenly overwhelmed with fall-related injuries; the waiting rooms are crowded, and the corridors are filled with stretchers. Among these patients, a girl can be seen with a bandaged hand, hiding her face in the pillow, leaving a thick, flowing mane of red hair exposed. After the treatment of her injury, the girl leaves without providing any personal information or making an appointment for her follow-up. Roversi sees her again in the private clinic on Thursday and is surprised; he changes her bandage, but the hand shows no signs of healing-the wound is more open, exposing tendons and bone. The girl needs surgery. But she refuses and walks away without leaving a contact number. During those days, the town is shaken by a double serious attack: two patrolling police officers are injured with their own weapon; they are in critical condition, and the entire police department mobilizes to find the culprit. The investigation is entrusted to Angelina Carta, a friend and almost girlfriend of Dr. Roversi. The clues are thin and contradictory but converge toward the girl with red hair, who has acted to carry out a revenge born from two centuries of anger. Elizabeth Siddal is a famous model known for her flowing red hair, who lived in the nineteenth century and died by suicide for love, but who never truly vanished. Her reappearance to avenge her great love, mentor, and husband Gabriel Rossetti will provide an opportunity to share with Roversi the experiences of a painter gifted with sensitivity and grace, yet poor, destined to become a lover as well as a muse in the Pre-Raphaelite group. Elizabeth promises Roversi the weapon with which she injured the police officers, and in exchange, he offers her a dose of sedatives sufficient to plunge her back into the oblivion from which she had emerged.