“You can find employment here in Venice,” Luigi enthused. “There are many foreigners living here. You need not speak Italian. Not right away. I can teach you, a little bit more every time we meet.” He flushed a little, but didn’t look down.
Rose smiled sadly. “I must return to Ireland and wait for news of my husband. As long as he is not officially dead—”
“You are married? You never mentioned that before.” Luigi backed away. “I must get to the gondola and work.” Without a goodbye he left.
Rose said, “Do you blame me for not telling him sooner? I only wanted him to help me while I was alone in this city. I do appreciate all he has done for me.”
“Explain that to him, not to me. Go after him. Quickly.”
Rose hesitated. “How will I get home to Ireland? I have no money.”
“I can arrange for something. Come with me to Vernassi’s house and we can see what we can do then. Run after Luigi and tell him to wait for me. I have one more thing to do, then I’ll come to you and he can take us back.”
She nodded and hurried off.
Jasper looked around him in the empty hallway. The bustle of the fancy dress party had driven him into flight, but this silence was also disturbing. The silence of a house in mourning. For a daughter who had been lost a long time ago, even if she had died only recently.
He shook his head and stepped out into the bright sunshine and the quacking of ducks on the canal. He walked through a few calles to the back door of another house. He knocked and stepped in to find Giulieta Calvieri waiting for him. Still dressed in the flamenco dress. “Did you catch the killer? I ran so quickly I have no idea what happened. You told me it was very important.” Her eyes searched his expression with a lively interest.
“Your rapid retreat has saved your life. She was hysterical and would have tried to kill you.”
“She? I see.” She gave him a sad smile. “Thank you for allowing me to witness everything during your discussion of the case. I could hear the conversation clearly.”
He held her gaze. “You now know Leonardo Biancci does not love you. He’s a vain, violent man. Do not marry him.”
She opened her mouth to say something, but he continued brusquely, “Not even for the sake of revenge on Marco Marcheti. Vernassi warned me about his mercilessness and the events thirty years ago where several families were thrown into financial disaster because of Marcheti’s conniving. Angry workers burned one businessman’s house to the ground. I asked Vernassi about details of the family running that business, the people who died in the fire. The only person who survived was a six-year-old girl who was staying with her grandmother in Verona. He didn’t remember her name. But perhaps you changed it when you moved away and married your husband? Perhaps you tried to put the past behind you until your husband died and you returned to Venice as a wealthy widow who suddenly drew the attention of eligible men. Even of the man who had destroyed your family and was now coldly using his pupil to further his position in life. All Marcheti wanted was a soft bed to lie back in, but there would always be a knife waiting for him under the pillows. You mentioned to me that Italians believe in vengeance even after a long time.”
“It is worth waiting for,” she agreed quietly.
“But it is not worth wasting your entire life on. Marcheti has his punishment through this affair. He was exposed as the man he is and Leonardo will never quite believe him like he used to. Do not marry someone who will only make you unhappy. Make a better choice. For the sake of your parents who would have wanted to see you do well for yourself.”
She studied him. “Why do you care what becomes of me, Signor Jasper?”
He sighed. “Lady Bantham said I enjoyed the denouement of the murderer. I wondered for a moment if she’s right. Solving murders has been a huge part of my life, and somehow, even after I’ve moved away from London, murder keeps following me. But if I do enjoy anything about it, it’s piecing the clues together and unravelling the web of lies. I don’t find any pleasure in the lies themselves and the dark secrets I have to bring to light. I can only hope something good comes out of it, somehow, and if you decide not to marry Biancci but someone better, that would be a very good thing.”
“I will bear that in mind.”
He wanted to say more to press her, but she put a hand on his arm. “You’re a kind man. Let me decide this for myself. Let it be my judgement rather than yours. I’ve never liked to sail along the course set for me by another.”
“Neither do I.” He kissed her hand. “Live well, Donna Giulieta. You’re a strong woman who can certainly make the right decision.”
Acknowledgements
As always, I’m grateful to all agents, editors and authors who share online about the writing and publishing process. Special thanks to my fabulous editor, Emily Bedford, for her enthusiasm for Jasper’s ongoing adventures, to the entire talented Canelo crew for their hard work on this series, and to the brilliant cover designer, Edward Bettison, for the glorious cover.
For a long time, I’ve wanted to write a mystery set in Venice: a city that seems everlasting in its beauty but is in reality under a constant threat of decay. Once I decided to take Jasper there, I knew instantly he had to be at a fancy dress party which would capture Venice’s duality of fairytale with a sinister edge through the dramatic reappearance of a woman back from the dead. For the story, I’ve created some fictional locations, such as the Ponte della Musica, but the presence of lions everywhere in Venice and the ominous history of the lions’ heads are real-life details which fitted wonderfully into the story I wanted to unfold.
The ‘Murder Will Follow’ series, more than any other I’ve written so far, shows my love of Agatha Christie and the deep joy I derive from reading her stories, ever since I discovered her work as a teen. I hope Jasper’s adventures in some of the most beautiful places in the world also bring joy to you, reader, and provide a few hours of pure sleuthing fun.
Murder Will Follow
Testament to Murder
Honeymoon with Death
Under the Guise of Death
Find out more
First published in the United Kingdom in 2019 by Canelo
Canelo Digital Publishing Limited
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Copyright © Vivian Conroy, 2019
The moral right of Vivian Conroy to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781788638340
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organizations, places and events are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
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