temptation in florence 03 - bankers death

by boeker, beate

  “I didn't!” Fabbiola drew herself up to her full height. “How dare you say that I--”

  “You gave yourself away when you tried to stop me from going into Carlina's apartment. The rest was easy. The next time you try to conceal something, make sure you pick matching colors. That carpet stuck out like a sore thumb.”

  Fabbiola opened her mouth, then closed it again. “But--”

  “Let me finish.” He cut her short without the slightest hesitation. “You banded together, all of you, safe in the knowledge that I would go along. You were wrong.”

  “We did it for the best!” Fabbiola rallied. “You will be the laughing stock of town when it comes out that Valentino was killed half-naked in Carlina's apartment.”

  Carlina flinched again.

  He dropped her arm so he would not be touched by her reactions anymore. “Let that be my problem.”

  An uneasy silence descended upon the table.

  Uncle Teo got up. “You need to know something else, Commissario.”

  As one, the family surged up.

  “Don't!” Benedetta grabbed his arm and tried to pull him back. “It won't make things any better.”

  “Be quiet, Uncle Teo!” Annalisa flashed her great-uncle a warning glance.

  “I really think it would be better if you didn't mention it.” Leopold Morin looked at Uncle Teo with something akin to pity.

  Garini narrowed his eyes. “Do you wish to talk to me on your own, Signor Morin?”

  Uncle Teo shook his head. “That's not necessary.”

  Fabbiola bent forward. “Stop talking, Teo! This will only lead us into more problems.”

  “I agree!” Emma clenched her fist. “You're making things more complicated. Let him” she made a move with her head toward the Commissario, “find out by himself.”

  Uncle Teo ignored them. “The truth is, Commissario, that each and every one of us had a strong motive to kill him.”

  “I didn't!” Simonetta sat up straight.

  Annalisa gave her a look of acute dislike.

  Uncle Teo inclined his head, acknowledging the point. “I meant everyone who lives here permanently.”

  “Why?” Garini's question came out like a bullet.

  “Because I took up a mortgage on this house and gave the money to Valentino to invest. He lost it all, and the bank was about to kick us all out.”

  “So the motive is revenge?”

  “No.” Uncle Teo's shoulders slumped. “The motive is his life insurance. When we arranged the mortgage, the bank made us take out insurance so that their risk would be covered even in the case of Valentino's sudden or even violent death. The premium covers the mortgage and the interest rates.”

  Garini froze. This was a lot more serious than he had expected. Petty family disagreements were one thing, but this took the case to a whole new level. He gave Carlina a glance. She had her hands clenched in front of her, her head bowed. Her dark curls had tumbled forward and hid her face. She looked beaten. Damn it all.

  “So you banded together and killed him?”

  “No!” For once, the Mantonis were of one opinion.

  “We do not know who killed him,” Fabbiola said with dignity. “But we did not think it would help the case if you found him in Carlina's apartment.”

  “Yes, I gathered that.” Garini's voice was dry.

  “It was a stupid thing to do,” Fabbiola pressed her lips together. “Because it was clear that you would not support us if you thought that Carlina is cheating on you. The murderer is obviously a bit deranged. Or confused. Or they don't like you. Anyway, they want the two of you to break it off, and at the moment, that's not getting us anywhere because we still need your support. If I get my hands on the person who did that, I'll--”

  “You'll feed them your self-made bread,” Emma cut in. “That'll be punishment enough.”

  Fabbiola turned red with anger. “Emma!”

  Garini had trouble finding his voice. At least Fabbiola's statement now rang true, even if it wasn't exactly flattering. “How much of what you all told me this morning is true?”

  They had the grace to look uncomfortable.

  “A lot,” Emma finally said.

  “I didn't even interview you.”

  “You can do it now.”

  Lucio frowned and put a protective arm around her shoulders.

  Why he keeps on thinking that his wife needs protection is beyond me. She needs as much help as a barracuda. Garini took out the tape recorder. “In general, I prefer to take your statements separately, but in this case, we might get a quicker result if I talk to all of you together. After all, you have probably arranged the details in advance anyway.”

  Benedetta looked offended. “I really don't know why you should say so. Maybe another Commissario should take over the case as you're so prejudiced.”

  “Brilliant idea.” Garini picked up the tape recorder again and returned it to the pocket in his jacket. “I'll go to the police station right away and will ask my colleague to take over.” Though it was not likely that he would get anywhere. If only he didn't have that alibi. Carlina was right. If he was a suspect, Cervi would have to take him off this case. As it was, Cervi would not budge.

  Carlina lifted her head and stared at him with wide open eyes.

  The hurt inside them went through him like a sharp stab of pain. He looked away.

  “Have you lost your mind?” Fabbiola put both hands on the table and bent forward, pushing her face toward her sister. “Let's keep this in the family!”

  “He is neither part of our family,” Benedetta pressed her red mouth into one thin line, “nor is it likely that he'll become one. He just said so.”

  Fabbiola snorted. “Men. Don't you see the way he looks at her? He--”

  “That's enough.” Garini slapped the tape recorder onto the table and switched it on. If he didn't take care, he would strangle her soon. “I want the right answers now, and I don't want to hear anything else. Is that understood?”

  “Can we eat the ravioli?” Ernesto asked with a pleading look.

  “Yes.” Garini snapped.

  Ernesto gave him an uncertain smile and dug in.

  “Who found the body?”

  “I did.” Simonetta sighed. “But I--”

  “That's enough. I only want answers to my questions. When did you find the body?”

  She gave him a hurt glance. “At around half past seven.”

  “Not eight?”

  “No.”

  “Is it true that you saw him last, Benedetta? At around six in the evening?”

  She inclined her head with a nervous look at Leopold. “I'm not sure if I was the last one to see him. But it was around six when I met him in front of Teo's door.”

  Garini looked around the table “Does anybody admit to having seen Valentino later than six?”

  They all shook their heads.

  “So the murder was done between six and seven thirty. That's a time-frame of one and a half hours.” He looked at the opera singer. “What happened after you found him, Simonetta?”

  “She screamed.” Fabbiola said with satisfaction. “And what a scream it was. She--”

  “Uncle Teo and I heard her scream,” Carlina cut in. Her voice sounded controlled and tight. “I had just returned from Temptation and was talking to Uncle Teo by the front door. I ran upstairs and bumped into Emma who came out of her apartment. We arrived at my apartment together. First Emma went in, then I went in. I made Simonetta come out. Then Uncle Teo came, next Mama and Benedetta arrived together.”

  “Quite the family party.”

  She flushed. “I left the house to call you. Maria arrived next. They moved the body down to the front door.”

  “How did you manage to do that, with so many neighbors and tourists around?”

  “Umbrellas.” Carlina closed her mouth with a snap.

  “What?” He didn't believe his ears.

  “We help up umbrellas and Uncle Teo checked from the balcony
to see if the coast was clear.” Emma said, a note of triumph in her voice. “It worked like a dream.”

  Garini gave the patriarch an unbelieving look. This whole family was nuts. He was crazy to even contemplate allying himself with them.

  “Why did you dress him?”

  “Well, he would have been cold without them.” Annalisa gave a peal of laughter.

  “Annalisa!” Her mother gave her a shocked look. “We dressed him because it would have been indecent. He was only wearing a pair of silk boxer shorts when we found him.”

  Garini ignored the tight feeling in his chest. “About the knife - is anybody missing a knife?”

  For an instant, it was so silent that they could hear Rafaele munching his raviolis.

  With exaggerated care, Ernesto speared one ravioli with his fork and glanced at his mother, but he didn't say anything.

  “Benedetta?” Garini made sure he put on his most forbidding expression. He had had enough of all their lies. “Are you missing a knife?”

  She crossed her arms in front of her chest. “How do you know?”

  “When did you last use it?”

  Benedetta shrugged. “I can't recall. It's not a knife I use very often, because it's a bit too large for my hands. Christmas, maybe, for the large roast.”

  More than 3 months ago. That helps a lot. He suppressed an exasperated sigh. “About the leather briefcase Valentino was carrying. Has anybody found it?”

  Emma frowned. “A leather briefcase?”

  Benedetta nodded. “Valentino was carrying a heavy leather briefcase when he left the house at six. We don't know what was inside.”

  “Has anybody seen it?” Garini repeated.

  They all shook their heads.

  He frowned. Did the leather case have anything to do with the murder? What had been the contents? He would have to keep it in mind. “Right.” He wanted nothing more than to leave the house and have time to think, time to come to grips with his feelings. “I will now repeat what you told me earlier. If any detail is wrong, I ask you to correct it right away. To spare me time, I will not repeat the walks so many of you seemed to take last night.” His voice was heavy with irony.

  He turned to Carlina's beautiful red-haired cousin. “Annalisa, you were--”

  Benedetta drew herself up. “Why do you start with my daughter?”

  “I start with her because she has a so-called unshakeable alibi with one of the many family members once or twice removed.” If they interrupted him once again, he would hit the ceiling.

  Annalisa glared at him. “I was at the hairdresser.”

  “Exactly. Who happens to be your cousin once removed.”

  “But there's nothing wrong with that!” Benedetta jumped to the defense of her daughter once again.

  “Of course not.” Garini clenched his teeth. “Kindly stop interrupting me unless what I say is not correct.”

  Now the whole family gave him looks like daggers.

  “Annalisa was at the hairdresser from six to nine. Carlina returned from Temptation at seven-thirty. Fabbiola went to see Rafaele's mother and came back at a quarter to eight. Benedetta left work at five, went to the hardware store, then to the specialty cheese store, and arrived back here together with Fabbiola. Where did you meet up, by the way?”

  “Oh, we met by chance at the top of the street.” Fabbiola said.

  For once, it sounded as if she wasn't making it up.

  Garini continued. “Uncle Teo spent the evening at home. Ernesto cruised the town with his mother's car and went to the Internet Café at seven to meet Rafaele who had not been home earlier. You, Simonetta, surely wish to correct your statement, don't you? I assume you didn't walk around all night?”

  “I was in Fabbiola's apartment.” Her voice sounded sullen. “Training my voice.”

  “And why did you go up to Carlina's apartment?”

  “Because Fabbiola told me to see if we could borrow some pans from Carlina, so she could make more bread.”

  “I had asked her to do this a lot earlier, though.” Fabbiola cut in. “I think it was on Monday.”

  Garini lifted his eyebrows. Clearly, the family loyalty did not include Simonetta. But then, Simonetta had made it clear she did not wish to be linked to them in any way.

  “I told you I didn't find the time to look for the pans right away.” There was an edge in Simonetta's voice. “Besides, I wanted to wait until Carlina was home, and I thought I had heard her going upstairs.”

  Fabbiola's eyes widened. “Maybe you heard the murderer! Madonna, you were lucky you didn't get yourself killed, too.”

  Simonetta paled. “I hadn't thought of that.”

  Garini continued. “Did you spend the whole afternoon in your apartment, Emma?”

  “Yes.” Emma nodded. “I had come home around three in the afternoon, and I was watching TV when I heard Simonetta scream.”

  “How about you, Lucio?” Garini addressed her husband.

  “I returned late from work. An unplanned meeting.” Lucio's answer was brief.

  “What kind of work do you do again?”

  “I'm a construction engineer.”

  “Signor Morin?” Garini looked at the Frenchman. “I assume your first statement was correct? You went out to get some fresh air and returned some thirty minutes later, when the body had already been moved to the steps outside?”

  The slight Frenchman inclined his head. “That's right.”

  “That must have been pretty tight timing, because from all I heard so far, it took the Mantonis roughly thirty minutes to set up this charade.”

  Leopold Morin flushed. “Apparently that was the case.”

  Garini decided not to pursue that point. Sometimes, life was stranger than fiction. “Maria? What about you?”

  “I already told you; I was at home,” Maria's voice was soft. She looked at her hands which were folded together on the table.

  “And why did you return to the house in the evening? You joined them upstairs shortly after the body was discovered, didn't you?”

  “Yes. Benedetta had said I could come and join them for dinner.” Maria swallowed, “but when I let myself in, I heard them all talking on the landing in front of Carlina's apartment, so of course, I went up to check out what had happened.”

  “Who cleaned Carlina's apartment?”

  Maria looked unhappy. “I did. That is, the others brought the water and the soap, and got rid of the towels, but I did the scrubbing.”

  “Was the blood dry or still liquid?”

  Maria turned so pale, it looked as if she would faint. “I . . . it was a puddle.” She gulped. “It was dry at the edge, but not . . . “ she covered her face with her hands.

  “Is that really necessary, Commissario?” Ernesto got up and put a hand on Maria's trembling shoulder.

  So Ernesto likes Maria. “Your family made it necessary.” Garini made sure his voice didn't show any emotion. “If you had left everything as it was, I could have seen it for myself.”

  “Who dressed the dead man?”

  “I did.” Emma sounded belligerent.

  “Of course. You have a bit of experience in doing that, don't you?” Damn. He had to keep his distance, or he would end up in the soup.

  “Do you care to explain your comment, Commissario?” Lucio's face reddened as he put a protective arm around his wife's shoulders.

  “No, I don't.” Garini decided to ride it out. He was not going to muddle them with things that happened months ago. “Where did you find his clothes, Emma?”

  “They were behind the armchair.”

  “Were they tumbled together or put away with care?”

  Emma's eyes widened. “Are you trying to find out if he had been undressed as part of a love scene? But Carlina was still at Temptation!”

  “Just answer my question, please.”

  A calculating look entered into Emma's eyes.

  “And please don't make up anything to protect Carlina or anybody else.” Garini contin
ued. “You've already created enough trouble as it is.” He made sure his voice sounded cutting. It wouldn't do to remain friendly.

  Emma pressed her lips together.

  “Just answer the question truthfully, love.” Her husband looked at her with concern. “Believe me, it'll be better for all of us.”

  She gave him an impatient look, then lifted one shoulder in a shrug. “His jacket and his trousers were folded away and hung over the back of the armchair. The rest, he had flung to the ground.”

  “What was his exact position?”

  “He was lying on his back, his arms flung out. His head was near Carlina's favorite armchair, the one with the leopard cover.”

  “What about Valentino's direct family, his mother?” Garini asked. “Have you been in touch with her?”

  They all shook their heads.

  “That's a bit unusual, isn't it?”

  “We can't reach her.” Uncle Teo looked tired.

  “Why not? What about her cell phone?”

  “She switched her cell phone number just before she went on that trip, and she forgot to give us the new number.” Fabbiola spread her fingers in a gesture of apology.

  Garini frowned. “You can still contact her on board.”

  “She didn't tell us the name of the ship.” Fabbiola shrugged. “Nor anything else. She kept her distance these last months. She's becoming more stuck-up every minute.”

  I'll have to try to trace her. It was not likely that she could help much, but you never knew. “Is there anything else I should know? Think about it.” Garini fixed each of them with hard eyes. “I don't want to learn anything else later on.”

  The family looked at him with stone-walling faces.

  Enemy. I'm their enemy. Garini tried to shake off the unaccustomed feeling of regret and turned to the door. “I'll be back.”

  II

  When Garini left the Mantoni house, he wanted to smash something against a wall. Hard. It would have to make a lot of noise, and it would have to splinter into a thousand pieces to give him some satisfaction. What a damned muddle. He felt ill-used, put upon, and misled, and he didn't know if he was angry at Carlina, simply for being part of that family, if nothing else, or if he should only be angry at the rest of them. In fact, it didn't make a difference as she treated the family as her first priority no matter what happened. He clenched his fist and climbed onto his motorbike, then kicked it into action with more aggression than necessary. Why hadn't she confided in him? Why had she agreed to lead him in circles?