The Tuscan Mystery Trilogy

by Margaret Moore

  “When I was a child, I was always afraid she would die and leave me. I spied on her for signs of weakness, or illness. It terrified me to think of the world without her,” said Cosimo. “Even when I got older, I saw a frailty in her, but that was well masked by the iron fist. Then lately, all I could see was the iron fist, and she no longer seemed at all frail. She had this terrible will, this all engulfing ‘volontà’, and we all had to bow down before it, or were mown down by it, I don’t know which.”

  “What you mean is, if we didn’t bow down, we were mown down, flattened, and thrown aside without pity,” said Francesca bitterly.

  “Don’t,” said Ambra. “I don’t think we should be talking like this.”

  “Nor do I,” said Orlando. “God, it’s nearly six, how long do you think we’ll have to wait here.”

  “What’s the matter, Olly? Got a date?” asked Francesca

  “That’s not what I meant. I would just like them to question us and bugger off.”

  “Got your alibi ready?”

  “Francesca!” exclaimed Ambra.

  “Well, that’s what they’ll want, isn’t it. They’ll want to know where we were and then they’ll check on our alibis and God help us if we haven’t got one.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  The Maresciallo had knocked on the door, and informed them that the police had finished outside, and that their mother's body had already removed. There would, of course, be an autopsy. The crime scene area had been cordoned off by police tape, and no one was to enter that area which, as it happened, comprised the whole of the back garden.

  He then said that for the moment, he would take a preliminary statement from each of them, separately, and take their finger-prints, for the purposes of elimination. After that they would be free, but would not be allowed beyond the town area. In fact, he would prefer them to stay in the house, unless they had urgent business outside of it. Tomorrow, no doubt, things would be a little clearer, and the investigation would pass out of his hands. As was usual in cases of homicide, a man was being sent up from the main town of the province to take over the case. They were to remain available to give full and complete, signed statements the next day. He asked which room could be used for the interviews, and, after some hesitancy, they gave him the use of their mother’s study.

  Orlando sat facing Maresciallo Biagioni, across his mother’s desk. A simple, good-natured man, the policeman now seemed to take on an air of authority that distanced him. Just to see him sitting at Diana’s desk was disconcerting. He looked up at Orlando, and said, “Now, this is an informal statement, so I’ll just take a few notes. Very simply, when did you last see your mother?”

  “At lunch. I served coffee and then she went off to rest, and I went out.”

  “Where did you go?”

  “I went to the bar, you know the one in the piazza, and I stayed there until about a quarter to four, I suppose, playing snooker with a friend.”

  “The name of your friend?”

  “Antonio Ballera”

  “After that, what did you do?”

  “Well, I came home, then I lay down on the bed for a few minutes; it was very hot, and my room is stifling, so I had a shower and then I came down to tea.”

  “Did you see anyone at all, as you were coming home?

  “I don’t think so. I can’t honestly remember.”

  “In the grounds?”

  “Oh! I see, you mean the murderer?”

  “Never mind what I mean. Answer the question.”

  “No. It was very hot, and I expect no one sane would be out and about.”

  “Except you, of course.”

  “Well… yes.”

  “Who was in the drawing room when you arrived?”

  “Emily, Chiara, and Ambra.”

  “Then what happened?”

  “Well Emily decided to go and wake mother because it was late and she had a meeting at five o’clock. My mother usually takes, I mean took, a nap in the pergola after lunch. Ambra was looking out of the window when she saw Emily walking about crying, and then she fell to the ground. She had called us to see, and we thought Emily must have been bitten by a snake, so Chiara and I rushed out to her and when we got there… she told us.”

  “She told you your mother was dead?”

  “Yes, so I dashed into the pergola, and Ambra arrived at the same moment, and then we saw that it was true. So I called the police.”

  “I see. Just a couple of things I’d like you to be quite clear about. At what time did you reach the drawing room for tea, and at what time did your sister Emily decide to go out to her mother?”

  “I think I must have come down shortly before four thirty, because Emily went to wake Madre at that time, and I had only been in the room a few minutes.”

  Thank you. That will be all for now. You will have your fingerprints taken later. Would you send Chiara in now, please.”

  “I’m afraid, I don’t know where she is. I left her with Emily, when I went to the pergola, but when I came back Emily was alone. I haven’t seen her since.”

  “Do you have any idea where she may be?”

  “Well Signora Bianchi said she would probably be with her horse, that’s what she usually does when she’s upset.”

  “I’ll send someone to see. Send Ambra in, now. Thank you.”

  It was a dismissal. Orlando found he felt relieved to have got it over with. He went in and called Ambra. “You’re next.”

  She got up hurriedly, glanced at Cosimo, and left the room.

  “Please sit down, I’ll say what I said to your brother; this is an informal statement. I’ll take notes, but you won't be asked to sign anything. OK? Now, tell me in your own words what happened this afternoon?”

  “I went to my room to rest, straight after lunch, and came down for tea at about four twenty-ish, I think. Emily and Chiara were already down, but not Madre, obviously. Sorry.” She blew her nose. “Anyway, at four thirty, Emily started fussing and decided to go and wake her.”

  “Was your brother already in the room?”

  “Oh yes. He arrived just before Emily went out.”

  “Carry on.”

  “Well, I poured myself some tea, and I was looking out of the window with Chiara. That’s right,” she added wonderingly, “we saw a raven, and I said it brings bad news.” She stopped and felt tears were imminent. “Damn” she muttered.

  “Take your time.”

  “It’s so stupid.” She wiped her eyes and blew her nose again. “Well, I saw Emily wandering round the lawn, weeping and talking to herself, and then she fell to the ground. We thought she’d had a snake bite, so the others rushed out to help her.”

  “Not you?”

  “No, I wasn’t quick enough off the mark. They were gone, before I realised it. I watched them talking to her. Then Olly rushed towards the side of the house where there’s the pergola, and then I knew something had happened to Madre, so I went straight there; we reached it together.” She stopped. “That’s all”

  “Thank-you, that will be fine for now. Later you will have your finger-prints taken. That’s routine. Would you send in,” he consulted a list, “Cosimo. He wasn’t present when you found your mother?”

  “No. We didn’t see him till later. I told him myself actually.”

  “Did you?” he said mildly.

  “Yes. I thought it would be better, coming from me.”

  “I see. Alright, send him in. Thank you.”

  Cosimo came into the room, and was told to sit down.

  “As I have already said, this is to be an informal statement. I just need to know, where you were this afternoon, as precisely as possible please.”

  “Oh, er, well, I’d been away at the sea for a couple of days and I decided to come back here. I needed to see my mother about…well, it doesn't matter now. Anyway I left Torre sometime after lunch, I don't know exactly when, I wasn’t really thinking about the time. When I got here I went to my room, to freshen up a little, and
I rested a bit on the bed. I suppose I snoozed. Then I went to my mother’s room as I wanted to speak privately with her before tea. She wasn’t there, so I waited. She always comes in to shower at about four, so I suppose it must have been at about that time, only of course she never came in. Then Ambra came in and told me she was dead.”

  “Did you meet or see anyone as you were coming into the house?”

  “No.”

  The Maresciallo looked at the boy's rumpled clothes. His jeans were dirty and there was a dark stain on his cuff. He didn’t seem to have freshened up very much.

  “Did you change your clothes?”

  “Oh! Er, no."

  “Do you always wear long-sleeved shirts in the summer?"

  “Yes, I have to stay out of the sun. My skin burns easily.”

  "You have a stain on your cuff."

  Cosimo started, looked down, and fingered his cuff nervously, but said nothing.

  “Where did you stay, while you were away?”

  “I was staying with a friend.”

  “His name.”

  “Is this important?”

  “Yes, his name please.”

  “David D’Orso, with an apostrophe.”

  “I’d like his address, and I’d like to know where you were staying with him.”

  “I was staying in a chalet at Torre, at the Bagno Delfino. He’s still there, if you need to see him.”

  “Thank you. One more thing. Would you take off all your clothes, except your underpants, please?”

  “What! Why?”

  “I need to check them. You’ll get them back. Now, no arguments, take them off.”

  Cosimo started unbuttoning his shirt, his fingers fumbling nervously.

  “I didn’t kill her, you know.”

  “Good. Then you’ve nothing to fear. Here, hand me the shirt, don’t throw it on the floor.” He folded the shirt and then the trousers and put them in a plastic evidence bag.

  “You can go now, but you are not to leave the house. Understood? Later some one will be along to take your fingerprints, and I’ll be leaving a man here tonight to keep the crime scene uncontaminated, so I would advise you not to try to leave.”

  Cosimo stumbled from the room, and ran upstairs to his bedroom. Maresciallo Biagioni used his cell phone to call one of his men, “Get down to the stables and see if you can find one of the Guerrazzi girls. Her name is Chiara, she’s a red head. Go carefully, she’s only eighteen and she’s upset. Her sister’s gone off her head and I don’t want another one in the same condition. Bring her straight to the house. I want to see her, and send me someone to take some clothes in to be checked.”

  A few minutes later, a young uniformed conscript, who had chosen to do his military service on the force, rather than as a soldier, knocked and entered.

  “I’ve come for some clothes, sir.”

  “Here. Take these. I want them tested for bloodstains, on the shirt cuff, and anywhere else, as soon as possible. As you pass the drawing room, second door on your left, call Francesca Guerrazzi will you. Ask her to come here. Oh, and pop your head in the kitchens, I think the cook may have gone; she’s supposed to be looking after the children, but see if anyone else is there, and if there is, send them up to the drawing room.”

  “Yes, sir. Oh sir, there’s the estate manager outside, shall I send him to the drawing room?

  “Of course, Why didn’t you say so sooner?”

  “Sorry, sir.”

  “How long has he been waiting?”

  “Er, since five thirty, sir.”

  “What! You mean you just kept him standing outside for well over an hour. Why didn’t someone tell me sooner? I was still out there myself. Oh, never mind. Leave it. Send him up to the drawing room with my apologies.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  A few minutes later, Francesca came in. She looked at him rather aggressively, and said, “About time too! I should have thought you could have called me first as I would like to go to my child, Zoë. It’s typical, this lack of consideration for others. I shall make a complaint to your superiors,”

  “Please feel free to do so. I’m sorry to have inconvenienced you, but as you were not in the house at the time of the murder, I left you till last. I wonder if you would be kind enough to tell me what you did this afternoon.”

  “Well, after lunch, I went along to the pergola to have a word with Madre, but she was already asleep, so I decided it could wait, and went out. I got back at about five fifteen-ish, I suppose. I didn’t look at my watch, but your men were already here, as you must remember, because you spoke to me yourself. I seem to remember, that you told me my mother was dead.”

  “Yes.” He paused. “You are quite sure that your mother was alive then?”

  “Certain.”

  “Where did you go when you left your mother asleep, at what time was that, by the way?”

  “It must have been about two, and I don’t see that it’s any of your business where I went.”

  “I’m afraid you’ll have to tell me.”

  “Well, if you must know, I went to that estate agent, Signor Mattone, and he gave me the keys to a house, which I spent some time in, looking around.”

  “Did anyone see you?”

  “I hope not. I don’t want anyone even guessing I’m interested in it, so I left my car in another street, and went there on foot.”

  “Where is the house?”

  She told him.

  “A very short drive away from here.”

  “Yes, but I didn’t drive back until after five, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  “Yes, but you have no proof that you were there all afternoon.”

  “No. And you have none that I was here, murdering my mother. If you’ve finished, I would like to go to my daughter. That is allowed, I presume, even if I’m a murder suspect.”

  “You are hardly that. Please go wherever you wish, after I have taken your fingerprints, but don’t leave town. I have asked all the members of your family to remain in town, and preferably in the house, tonight. Not a very great hardship. I am sure you will all want to be together in this moment of grief.”

  She looked sharply at him, and left the room.

  Riccardo knocked at the door, and waited awkwardly for permission before entering.

  “Buona sera, Maresciallo” he said extending his hand. They shook hands and he was told to be seated.

  “Riccardo, I’m sorry you were kept waiting; I hadn’t been informed that you were here. I just wanted to ask you a few questions.” The other nodded, so he continued “Did you see anyone or anything unusual this afternoon?”

  “No”

  “Right. What did you do and who did you see?”

  “Well, I went down to the stables after lunch. The smithy was coming, as Emperor had cast a shoe, and he always welcomes a helping hand. Chiara was there of course. We mucked out, so that everything was shipshape, and then held the horse for him to be shod.”

  “Till what time?”

  “I’m not sure, till about three or maybe three fifteen. I don’t think it could have been much later, because afterwards I had quite a few things to do in the garden. In particular, I prepared the new lettuce bed; we sow at intervals so that we always have plenty and I wanted to get that done before the moon changed. You have to sow lettuce on a waning moon, otherwise it bolts. Then I put the cat net over it, and I weeded the older lettuce bed. We get a terrific amount of bindweed. Then there are the snails. Well I hand pick them off. We don’t use insecticide as such, we do organic gardening. You know I soak weeds, and … I’m sorry. You don’t want to know about gardening methods. Well that’s it really. After that I got the chickens settled, and the rabbits fed, and then got down some hay for the horse, the usual things, and at about five-thirty I came up here, thinking to get a bit more of that tree cleared. I’d arranged to meet the lads here at that time. I’d let them off this afternoon. They get up early and are good workers. They wanted to go swimming, so they aske
d to work from five-thirty to seven-thirty, that makes up the eight hours, as they do seven till one in the mornings.”

  “So, you were alone from roughly three o'clock till five thirty, when you came up to the house?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s all then. Are the lads here?”

  “No, your man said to let them go for now, as neither of them had been near the place all afternoon and that you’d see them in the morning.”

  “I see.” said the Maresciallo.

  “They were at the public swimming pool this afternoon.”

  “Right. Well, I think that will do for now. Oh yes, just one more thing; did you see Chiara after the smithy left?”

  “Yes, and no. I was aware of her for a while, getting water for the horses and so on, but I wasn’t taking much notice, if you know what I mean.”

  “So you couldn’t say when she left?”

  “No. I’m afraid not.”

  “Thank-you. I would like you to stay in the house, for the moment, until I have taken your fingerprints, and I would also like you to stay in town this evening, please. Tomorrow, you will be called on to sign a written statement.”

  “Yes, of course. I’ll be here from seven, as usual.”

  “When you arrive tomorrow morning, do not attempt to enter the cordoned-off area. You will be informed when you may continue the work you have to do there,”

  When he had gone, the Maresciallo pulled back the curtain, behind which was seated a colleague.

  “Did you get all that?”

  “Yes sir. Shorthand, and I’ve taped it too.”

  “Good lad. Whoever comes up tomorrow can listen to the tapes if they want to, before going any further. Type up the shorthand and I’ll fax it down to Lucca.”

  “What about the last of the Guerrazzi children, Chiara. Shall I wait and do hers?”

  “No, you get started on the rest and I’ll see her, when they find her. I want to know as soon as the tests come back on the boy's shirt, what’s his name? Ah yes, Cosimo. Got that?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And send for a finger-print kit, and someone who is capable of taking them without making a mess of the job. I want everyone done, except the cook. We can do her, tomorrow. Got that?”