That spring morning had broken clear and warm, and it was just after 8.30am when Maurizio Gucci, handsome scion of the famed fashion house, stepped out of his Milan apartment to make the short walk to his office on Via Palestro 20, just a stone’s throw away from the city’s fashion district. Clutching a handful of magazines and impeccably attired in a suit, tie and — what else? — Gucci loafers, he strode past the public gardens and headed up the short flight of steps on the way to his office. Unbeknown to him, however, another man had fallen in step behind him and, before Maurizio could head inside the building to commence another day’s work at the helm of the Gucci empire, the gunman had pumped three shots into his back. As he collapsed on to the red marble floor, the coup de grace was delivered with a final shot to the head.