Model Under Cover--Dressed to Kill

by Carina Axelsson

  There was a collective sigh as we all leaned back in our chairs for a minute.

  “Okay…” Sebastian said, “but what I still don’t understand is why, if Elisabetta was hard up, she didn’t go straight to the cemetery, find the gems and sell them? Why wait all this time? Falco died over seven months ago, after all.”

  “For a while that had me stumped too,” I answered. “Like you say, she was hard up, and yet she knew where a fabulous cache of gems were hidden. And she also could have sold the tarocchi if she wanted to. So why wait?” I paused for a moment. “The thing is, she waited because Falco had asked her to…the decision had nothing to do with Elisabetta. It had to do with Falco…”

  Ugo, Ellie and Sebastian looked at me, eyes wide. “Falco?”

  “Like we said, it didn’t make sense that Elisabetta waited – as long as I went with the assumption that she was supposed to benefit from the gems!” I stopped while Maria passed around small plates of pasta. “But what if Elisabetta had some other reason for wanting to find them? A reason that might make more sense within Elisabetta’s time frame…?”

  “So what was it?” Ugo’s curiosity was palpable. I smiled as I watched him nearly jump out of his seat as he encouraged me to continue.

  “Well, believe it or not, I only figured it all out as I was walking down the Lei-Lei runway this morning.” Who would have guessed, I thought, that modelling could be so inspiring? “The words FASHION CONSCIENCE were lit up and beamed around the runway. And, funnily enough, in my dream last night my gran kept saying, as she lay on her deathbed, that she had no regrets and a clean conscience.”

  “So? I don’t see the connection,” said Ugo.

  “So, what is it that most people want to do on their deathbed? They want to clear their conscience, right? They want to die knowing that any loose ends they’ve left behind them are tied up, and they also want to right whatever wrongs they’ve done. Keeping that in mind I started looking at the circumstances again and that’s when it occurred to me that Falco must have been feeling horrible about what he’d done – especially once he realized he’d never be able to leave the hospital. Lavinia even told me she thought Falco had felt guilty at the end. So how could he clear his conscience and make right what he’d done to Tavi Holt while he was in the hospital and she was halfway across the world? He had no way – or did he?”

  “Elisabetta,” Sebastian said.

  “Exactly. She was the perfect choice. She was his best friend and he knew he could rely on her utter discretion. He decided to tell her about the stones he’d switched and where he’d hidden them. Then he asked her to retrieve them and take them to Tavi for him. She wouldn’t have to say anything – he’d write a letter to Tavi explaining everything himself. She only had to act as the messenger.”

  “But where’s the letter now?” Sebastian asked.

  “Probably somewhere in Elisabetta’s flat. I’m sure the police will find it…”

  “Okay, but, again, why the seven-month wait?” Ellie asked.

  “Tavi answered that question for me herself. She told me that she came to Milan ‘twice a year, like clockwork’, to see the Ventini shows. I kept going over that in my mind until I realized that, of course, Elisabetta had to wait until Tavi returned.”

  “But why?” Ugo asked.

  “Because,” I explained, “if Elisabetta had fetched the stones straight after Falco had died, where would she have kept them? And what if someone had found them on her? She would have had a lot of explaining to do. I’m sure Falco told her to wait for Tavi. I can’t imagine he would have wanted to expose Elisabetta to the huge risk that keeping those stones for all those months would have entailed.”

  “So that was the very important thing she had to do on Tuesday night – fetch the stones from the cemetery and take them to Tavi,” said Sebastian.

  “And that’s also why she had a pair of sneakers with her in her basket on Tuesday – because of the cemetery,” Ellie said.

  “Exactly.”

  “Which reminds me,” Sebastian said as he set his fork down, “how did Falco manage to get the bag of gems into the statue on top of his family crypt? He wasn’t exactly in great shape after his last show…”

  “True.” I nodded. “But I think Falco probably went before the show – as soon as he’d switched the stones, in fact. He wasn’t feeling well at that point, that’s true, but he wasn’t in as much pain as he’d be the week later. And it made sense for him to hide the gems at the cemetery straight away. The last thing he needed was for someone to find them at the Ventini offices or in his house.”

  We sat in silence for a few minutes, each of us lost in our thoughts – or maybe it was just that Maria’s pasta was exceptionally good. Finally, though, Sebastian asked another question. “But why did Francesca kill Elisabetta? Why not just steal the cards from her – like she tried to do with you?”

  “But she did try stealing them from Elisabetta, remember?”

  “Ah yes, she was mugged in the spring!” Ugo said. “That must have been Francesca!”

  “Exactly. And Elisabetta’s apartment was broken into back in the spring, too – by Francesca. She admitted as much to me in the cemetery,” I added. “The thing is, Francesca told herself that after two failed attempts at trying to get the cards from Elisabetta, she needed a more foolproof method. She probably overheard Falco saying something to Elisabetta about when to fetch the stones while she was hiding in his hospital room. Francecsa would have known she didn’t have much time left to retrieve them – so by this point, in her unhinged mind, killing Elisabetta seemed like the easiest way to get the cards.”

  “Why was that?” Sebastian asked.

  “She knew that Elisabetta had only one living relative – a drug-addict brother who would sell whatever he could to feed his habit. If Elisabetta died, he’d inherit, and if he inherited he would sell – and she could then pounce on the cards and either claim them as rightfully hers, or, she could buy them.”

  “That is evil!” Ellie said.

  “It is. But, sure enough, as soon as she’d killed Elisabetta, she called up Professor Greene to say that she was looking for some antique tarocchi.”

  “By the way, we should get the test results back pretty soon about the poisoning,” Ugo said. “They told me at the police station.”

  “It was the monkshood – she admitted it. I’m sorry about that, Ugo.”

  “I’ve already had the plant ripped out,” Ugo said, his face sad.

  I nodded. “It really was the perfect murder for her. She knew your apartment very well, she knew about the plant, she was a trusted member of your inner circle and she’d obviously planned it all out really carefully – enough, anyway, so that she felt ready to go through with it when the occasion presented itself. And don’t forget: there was an added bonus for her if she did it at your place…”

  Ugo looked puzzled.

  “Suspicion would automatically fall on you. I don’t think she’s ever forgiven you for demoting her.”

  “That witch!”

  Our conversation slowly came to an end and just as I was about to get up from Ugo’s sofa, my mum called. She said she’d just landed and she’d be in town within thirty minutes. Then there was a long silence.

  “Mum? Hello? Are you there?”

  “Yes, Axelle, I am. And I think it’s best to tell you now that I’ve had a call from the Milanese police chief.”

  Another silence.

  “He’s told me that you’ve been involved in the apprehension of a suspect – a suspect involved in a high-profile murder.”

  Argh! The police had called my mum after all! I guess it was to be expected…but still, why did they have to tell her everything? “Well, um…yes, I was dragged into it without—”

  Mum cut me off. “From what I understand, Axelle, it doesn’t
seem as if you were dragged into anything.” Another silence. “Having said that, though, the police chief did speak very highly of you. He said you’d been a great help.”

  I let out a breath of relief.

  “But we are going to have to talk about this. Your father and I expressly forbade you from getting mixed up in any kind of business like this.”

  “But, Mum—”

  “Don’t ‘but Mum’ me, Axelle. We will talk about this…”

  I pursed my lips and then said, “I was only doing what any concerned citizen would have done in my place.”

  “Somehow, Axelle, I’m not sure I believe that.”

  I love my mum – don’t get me wrong. But, honestly, did she always have to be such a killjoy?

  At least she agreed that I should stay in the model flat again tonight. “It’s too late for you to pack up and move to my hotel now anyway, Axelle. So why don’t you and Ellie stay one last night together at the model flat and then you can join me tomorrow? I’ll stop by quickly to check on you in thirty minutes.”

  By the time our conversation ended, it was time to leave.

  Ugo asked his driver to take Ellie, Sebastian and me back to our respective flats. It had been a very long day, and finally knowing the stones were safely at the police station, and having talked everything through with the police and with Ugo, I was ready for bed.

  My mum did stop by, but Ellie did a great job of distracting her and she seemed satisfied with how I looked – even if she wasn’t satisfied with all of my answers. “I’ll call you first thing tomorrow morning, Axelle, love, and we’ll plan our day then. And I’ll expect to hear everything, too.”

  I woke up before Ellie. The flat was silent and for some minutes I enjoyed the fact that I didn’t have to dash out of bed and face another day of combining modelling with detective work. It felt nice, actually, to just kind of do…nothing.

  I was wondering when Mum would call when my phone rang. And because I was expecting it to be her, I didn’t look at the number that lit up my screen.

  But it turned out to be a policeman – who spoke excellent English.

  For a moment I panicked thinking I’d said or done something wrong yesterday, that the stones were fake, or that Francesca was accusing me of assault. But the officer was surprisingly friendly. I listened as he told me that everything was fine, thanked me for my help with the investigation and said it was moving forward again. Apparently, Ugo had been at the station early that morning to answer a few more questions. I was just about to ask them why they were telling me all of this when the officer on the line finally came to his point.

  Apparently they’d also asked Ugo if he could do one last thing for them, but when he’d heard what the task was, he’d suggested that I do it instead. So after bringing Ellie up-to-date on my morning plans I called my mum to tell her that I had to go to the police station one more time.

  “Fine,” she said. “But only because it’s a request from the law. After that no more meddling, Axelle!”

  I left the flat, and took the subway to the police station. The police chief in charge of the case was waiting for me and he handed me the gems straight away. They were still in the grimy bag. “As for the letter you suggested we search for, here it is,” he said, passing it to me across his desk. “And you were right, it’s addressed to Signora Tavi Holt.”

  I took the envelope and, sure enough, there it was, still sealed. And this time the handwriting was definitely Falco’s.

  “By rights the gems belong to Tavi Holt. We’ve checked this with the Ventini company, and Ugo Anbessa himself said that you should be the one to hand them back to her. So if you’d like to…”

  I really wanted to know what the letter said – even if I already had a pretty good idea. And it would be fun to hand Tavi the stones back…I immediately agreed.

  The police chief nodded. “Good, good. We have already called Signora Holt. She will be here shortly.”

  Sure enough, about ten minutes later Tavi arrived in a cloud of perfume and pastel-coloured clothes. And more than anything else, she seemed excited.

  “This is such a surprise,” she said. “I mean what could Falco possibly have for me? Of course we were friends, but, I mean, this is weird. It’s like some kind of message from beyond the grave or something…”

  Tavi rattled on while she made herself comfortable and I felt the stones move in the bag as I held it in my hand. Once she sat down I carefully handed them over along with the envelope from Falco. Her voice faded into silence as she saw what was in the bag.

  “Are these gems?” she was lifting the bag high, turning it so the tiny stones caught the light.

  I nodded.

  “The gems from the dress?”

  “Yes, I believe they are, but I’m sure if you read the letter Falco will tell you in his own words what this is all about.”

  Tavi carefully opened the envelope and pulled out the one-page letter. She read it slowly, out loud.

  Dear Tavi,

  I don’t even know where to begin…of course I should start with a huge apology – and this I give you. I do hope you’ll find it in your heart to forgive me for what I am about to tell you…

  I am a dying man now, driven by the cries of my conscience to clean up my life as best as I can before I go. I have a confession to make and will come straight to the point, embarrassing though it is to admit…

  I switched some of the gems of your dress. Yes, on the red one from my last collection. Before it was sent to you, I replaced some of the real gems with fake ones. I have no excuse for it. All I can say in my defence is that my business – my heart and soul, in essence – has been dancing on the precipice of failure. I thought that by switching the stones and selling them on I’d be able to pull myself, and those following me, out of the drastic decline we were facing. But in fact I am now facing my own decline. I cannot go without giving you back that which is rightfully yours.

  I am sincerely sorry for all of this… I thank you so much for being such a wonderful client and friend and for your laughter and wit.

  With love,

  Falco

  For a while Tavi sat rooted to the chair, rereading Falco’s words until suddenly, with a shake of her fine head, she hooted with laughter. “Why of all the outrageous things! This,” she said loudly as she shook the paper in her hand, “is typical Falco.” I watched as she folded the letter in two and kissed it before sliding it into her handbag.

  “Wait till I tell Rooster about this! What a story – even Rooster will forgive him. I think I’ll ask Ugo if – does he know about all of this, by the way?”

  “Yes, he does.”

  “Well I’ll ask him if the atelier can replace the fake stones with these real ones…but, honestly, what a hoot! That Falco. Didn’t I tell you he was like a character out of a fairy tale?”

  I’d just said goodbye to Tavi when my phone rang. It was Tomasso. I hesitated between answering it and ignoring it…and finally, after reasoning that I’d given him enough of a runaround for one week (and I’d forgotten to call him back last night!), I took his call. Just please, please, I thought, don’t tell me I have a new casting or booking or something. As it turned out, I could have kissed Tomasso!

  “Buongiorno, Axelle!” He sounded chirpy and his Italian accent came through loud and strong as ever. “Listen, I am sorry to bother you, but I tried calling you last night.”

  “Sorry about that, Tomasso, I had so much to do,” I said as I remembered peeling away on Sebastian’s Vespa just as Tomasso’s call had come in.

  “Well, as you know, during the shows fashion never sleeps – even for the men’s shows! Anyway, I remembered you told me your mother was coming to town…is she here?”

  “Uh…yes. She arrived last night.” What, I wondered, could he possibly want?

 
; “Well, I have a couple of tickets to two of the men’s shows – and one of them is for Gucci. I’d asked for them for myself, actually, but I have to chaperone one of our male models for some interviews, so I will have to miss the shows. But I thought maybe your mother would like to go?”

  Was he joking! Does Prada start with a P? Does MAC make lip gloss?

  And could the timing be any better for Sebastian and me? Not that he’d said anything, but I knew that the thought of us finally having the whole of Saturday free – and then having to spend it shopping with my mum – wasn’t exactly Sebastian’s idea of a great time.

  It wasn’t mine either, by the way. No offence to Mum – but Sebastian and I had a lot to sort out.

  Basically, Tomasso’s call was like a gift from the detective gods.

  “She’d love the tickets!” I was practically yelling into the phone and eagerly agreed to collect them from Tomasso.

  I called my mum immediately and told her the news. She was ecstatic. It seemed yesterday’s exploits had already been forgotten.

  Next I called Sebastian. He was just on his way to the cemetery to pick up his scooter and offered to collect me on his way back. He could then take me to the agency to fetch the tickets, and we’d drop them off at my mum’s hotel.

  By lunchtime Sebastian and I were on our own, my mum was planning what to wear for Gucci, and Ellie had promised to meet us at the flat later, to pack.

  Sebastian and I didn’t say a word as we walked back to his scooter from my mum’s hotel, but from that moment on our day was magic. We went wherever our mood took us – no schedule, no plan, no chasing suspects.

  We saw the amazing Castello Sforza, watched the street acts near La Scala Opera House, visited 10 Corso Como (yeah, it’s a pretty cool store – okay, make that very cool), walked down Corso Garibaldi, and went back to explore the Navigli district – no underground swimming this time. From there we walked to the Columns of San Lorenzo, last seen as we’d been speeding past them in our attempt to follow Francesca.