A Villa in Sicily: Capers and a Calamity

by Fiona Grace

  She smiled. “All right. Thanks.”

  She stepped into the passenger side door and let Nick get in behind her. As they took off, he said, “Thought you were coming back to the clinic last night. I waited for you.”

  Oh, that’s . . . nice, she thought, a little uneasy. “Sorry! It was a little crazy. Did Sabina say she saw me at dinner? I ate, and then I had the run-in with all those cats, and then I had to check on an electrocuted ferret, and then I had a meeting with Mauro’s lawyer . . . it was a day.”

  He chuckled.

  “Not to mention that my clinic in Mussomeli’s blowing up!” she said with a little titter, though it pained her to think of poor Concetta, and the residents of Mussomeli, having to deal with the outbreak without her. “Turns out, they’re in crisis. There may be rabies going around.”

  “No kidding?”

  “Yeah. And my assistant, who is in veterinary school, might have it. So I’m a little on edge.”

  He nodded, again taking a curve way too fast, making Audrey nearly wind up in his lap. He went to nudge her back but his hand lingered there a second too long. She bristled as he said, “Maybe you should forget that place and stay here. With us.”

  “Vito. It’s not that easy. I have a responsibility to—”

  “Yeah. But you’re good for this place. And we need you, too. You fit in with all of us. You belong here,” he said. “Don’t you think?”

  She hesitated. Yes, people needed her here. She hated to think what poor Milo’s family would’ve done if she hadn’t been there. Without Dr. Mauro, any animal experiencing an emergency would be in big trouble. “A lot of Lipari thinks I’m a murderer.”

  “I don’t. I’d never think that. If they arrested you, I swear, I’d . . .” He banged a fist on the steering wheel. “Well, I don’t know what I’d do. Protest at the courthouse. Whatever. There’s no way you could’ve done it.”

  She smiled at him. If only he’d be able to convince Officer Lorenzo. “That’s very sweet of you. But Mr. Gallo will find someone else to take care of Lipari’s pet population when I’m gone. I told him when he offered that I couldn’t stay. I’m sure he’s looking.”

  Vito pulled to an abrupt stop at a stop sign that made them both lurch forward. Thank goodness for seatbelts. Then he looked over at her. “No one else wants to come to this armpit. Sure, it’s nice to visit, but when it comes to living here? Most people can’t take it. But you can. You’re the first normal person who’s come here since I moved here.”

  His eyes were full of a strange sort of desperation. “Vito, I—”

  “You should at least think about it.”

  She was about to say, There’s really no point, but the poor kid had such a hopeful look in his eyes. His life hadn’t been easy before. That was for sure. And maybe he saw her as an ally, the reason his life had gotten better. She hated to be the one to disappoint him, after everything he’d done to help her.

  “Fine. I will. But right now . . . where is Loretta Mauro’s home?” She looked around. They were on a hillside above the village, surrounded by trees.

  He let out a big sigh and threw the car into drive. “Right up here.”

  She saw what he meant about it being quite a climb. After a near forty-five-degree ascent, a large, modern white mansion came into view among the blooming trees. All boxy, straight lines and dramatic curves, it didn’t fit in with the baroque architecture of the rest of the island. There were no shutters on the many massive windows, making it look a bit like a tiny skyscraper.

  Vito grimaced at it as they pulled into a U-shaped drive with a fountain in the center and a landscape full of flowering trees and palms. “Behold the monstrosity.”

  “Wow. She lives here alone?”

  “Alone with the souls of the misfortunate she collects,” he said, adding a sinister laugh. Then he shrugged and started to take off his seatbelt. “I’m kidding.”

  Audrey held up a hand. “Stay here.”

  “What? No.” He reached for the door. “What if she wants to add you to her collect—”

  “For the last time, I’ll be fine,” she told him. “Now, stay. You too, Nick.”

  Nick howled as she slipped out the door and closed it before he could jump out.

  She went up to the door. The front stoop was covered with dried palm fronds and leaves, so thick that the welcome mat underneath was barely visible. Though there were open sidelights on either side of the door and so many windows in the house itself, it looked dark and foreboding inside. Even when she ran the doorbell, it let out a tinny, unwelcoming sound.

  Audrey waited a moment and then looked back at Vito, who shrugged and mouthed, I told you she wouldn’t answer. Nick had climbed onto the dashboard and was scratching at the windshield in vain, trying to escape and be part of the action.

  She rang the doorbell again and shivered. The breeze up on this hill from the ocean was almost icy. Though the view beyond the palms was spectacular, the vistas stretching all the way toward Vulcano and Messina in the distance, it also gave her vertigo. Beyond the driveway and road was a precariously steep drop-off that made it feel sinister. As beautiful as it all was, she couldn’t ever imagine living in such a place.

  Just when she thought she was out of luck, there was a noise from inside. From the window, she could see a small form limping its way toward the door. It opened a few inches.

  A woman with black hair streaked with white opened the door. She was impossibly thin, wearing large dark sunglasses and a crisp white pantsuit, giving the impression of an Audrey Hepburn in her later years. Her eyebrows were entirely drawn on in almost cartoonish black crayon, in a slanting way that looked rather angry. “Si?”

  “Ms. Mauro?” she asked.

  The woman whipped off her sunglasses to reveal eyes narrowed into wrinkled slits. “Tu chi sei?”

  “Scusi.” She pointed to herself. “Dottore Smart. From America. I knew Dr. Mauro.”

  She rolled her eyes, uninterested. “I don’t care. I have nothing to do with him anymore. And I have nothing to say to you, Dottore Smart.”

  “It’s about his murder.”

  She stared at Audrey for a beat, and then opened the door wider. “Ah. You think I did it? If you did, you are Dottore Stupid, I should say.” She snorted and waved an arm dramatically. “Ha! You think I care enough about him to throw away my life like that? You are wrong. You see, I care so little about him that I would never do such a thing. Look at me! I have the house. I have his money. I didn’t need to kill him. I already had everything of his that was worth anything.”

  Audrey frowned. “I heard that he wasn’t willing to grant you a divorce.”

  The woman’s beady eyes zeroed in on Audrey, making her feel about two inches tall. “Yes. The fool. What . . . were you . . . and he . . .?”

  Audrey shook her head, but before she could deny it verbally, the woman continued on.

  “Did you want him to divorce me so that he could marry you? Is that it? Listen, little girl. I know very well of his affairs with other women. That pretty little tramp with the blonde hair that used to parade around his office in the short skirts and the tight tops. She thought she was something special, too. But no. And believe me, you were never going to get what you wanted from him. He was wholly devoted to me. Too devoted. I kept trying to untangle myself from his web and every time I did, he found a way to pull me back. We fought. All the time!” She laughed. “But that was our way. It was sport for us. Fun. I sent the divorce papers, and he didn’t sign them. That was our game, too. And now that he’s dead, I will miss all the fun.”

  “You’re saying you got nothing from his death?”

  “No. Not a thing that he didn’t give me already. He might have made the money, but I managed it. I still do. He was silly. Never cared about that.”

  “He wasn’t living here?”

  “Oh, no. No, the two of us under the same roof? Not a good thing. And I’m—how do you say?—allergic to animals.”

  Audrey st
ared in surprise. “You married a veterinarian and you’re allergic to animals?”

  “Yes! I hate them! I can’t get near them! Even when he’d come home from the office, he’d smell like animals. It’d start me . . .” She sniffled. Then she suddenly sneezed. She looked at Audrey through watery eyes. “You smell like an animal . . .”

  The older woman’s eyes wandered toward Vito’s car and bulged.

  “What is that?” She extended a claw-like, manicured finger toward Nick.

  “He’s a fo—”

  Loretta Mauro sneezed again. “Oh no. No no no, I can’t put up with this. I’m a virtual shut-in in my own home because I’m allergic to so many things. The air, the sunlight . . . but most of all, animals!” She went to close the door.

  “One moment, please!” Audrey said, putting her hand on the door to stop her. “I just have one more question.”

  “Make it fast,” she moaned, dabbing the sides of her eyes. “I can’t take this much longer.”

  “Do you happen to know who might have wanted to kill him?”

  “Me? No. Of course not, I have no idea.”

  Audrey wasn’t so sure she believed that. She had to have known her husband was no angel. “But he had enemies, yes?”

  “That’s two questions,” she muttered, and fluffed her dark hair, baring a massive diamond ring that covered most of her knuckle. “I don’t know. I heard he had some trouble down at the clinic. A few patients that might not have been happy with his care. But I don’t pay attention to his work. I’ve never even been in his office. Like I said, I’m allergic.”

  Audrey nodded. “All right. Thank—”

  “But I did hear about a little spat he had with a new veterinarian, down near his office. Someone said it was pretty brutal,” she said, a sly smile appearing on her face. “Was that you?”

  Audrey swallowed. “It was, but—”

  “Something tells me you have more of a motive than anyone else. Is that why you’re here? Trying to find someone to pin it on so the police don’t come after you?” She held up her hands. “Sorry to disappoint you, but I’m clean. You can’t put anything on me. I never leave my house anymore. Ask anyone.”

  Just because no one saw you doesn’t mean you weren’t there, she thought, but before she could verbalize that, another thought hit her. Audrey’s fight with Mauro had lasted barely two minutes, and yet all of Lipari knew it happened. It wasn’t easy for anyone to keep secrets here. And Audrey had a hard time believing that a fragile, arthritic thing like Loretta Mauro could steal down this hillside without being noticed in order to kill her husband.

  Or maybe she was just faking all this?

  “Thanks for your—”

  “I suppose you have a good motive, too, eh? You didn’t like the competition from my ex-husband, hmm? He got in your way? And so you took him out?”

  Audrey shook her head. “I’m just trying to find out what happened to—”

  “You’d better run. They’re onto you,” she said, motioning behind her.

  Audrey turned to see a police car pulling into the U-drive, right behind Vito’s car.

  Oh, no. They’re after me again.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

  As Officer Lorenzo stepped out of the car, grimacing at Audrey, Loretta slammed the door closed.

  “What are you doing here, Miss Smart?” Lorenzo said, shaking her head. She’d brought along one of the younger officers, the pretty blonde female.

  “I was just—” Audrey looked around helplessly. Now she couldn’t blame her appearance here on searching for strays. The allergic woman probably wouldn’t be much help at all. She stammered, “Well, I—”

  Vito jumped out of the car. “We’re here because someone reported seeing some strays around here. That’s all.”

  Officer Lorenzo gave him a look that was absolutely dripping with skepticism. “Right. Vito. Get back in the car.”

  “I’m serious,” he said, hanging on the door.

  “And so am I,” she responded, going past him and nudging the door. He gave Audrey a sheepish look and slunk back behind the steering wheel.

  Audrey said, “Why are you here?”

  The blonde officer said, with a hint of pride, “We had a pretty hot lead come through.”

  “A hot lead? Really? Are you going to question Dr. Mauro’s wife about his murder? Do you think—” She stopped as she noticed the papers in the officer’s hand. She couldn’t quite make it out, but did that say, Mandato? So was that an arrest warrant? “What is that?”

  Officer Lorenzo pointed toward the car. “For once, Miss Smart, all signs are not pointing to you. So if I were you, I’d be happy. And leave, so we can carry on with our business.”

  Audrey backed away toward the car and grabbed ahold of the handle as Officer Lorenzo drummed her hands hard on the wooden door. She barked, “Loretta Mauro! Apri la porta! Adesso!”

  Whatever the officers were there for, Audrey knew that this time, they meant business.

  “Holy sh . . . cow,” Vito murmured from inside the car as Audrey settled herself in, watching the scene intently. “Are they gonna arrest that old bag?”

  “I don’t know,” Audrey whispered, as Nick made himself comfortable on her lap. “Maybe. They said something about a hot lead. And I think I saw an arrest warrant in the other officer’s hand.”

  “Hot lead? Like what?”

  “No clue. You’d think they already interviewed the ex before.” If they knew what they were doing, which . . . the jury is still out on that one.

  “Should we leave?” Vito asked, reaching for the key in the ignition.

  She put a hand over his. “Just wait. A little longer . . .”

  The door opened. Audrey could see Loretta, wearing her dark sunglasses again and frowning, clearly unimpressed and unafraid of her newest guests. Lorenzo spoke quietly. Loretta, on the other hand, launched into a rapid-fire Italian tirade that only seemed to get louder and louder the longer the officer stood there.

  “What is she saying?” Audrey asked, since the only word she could make out was Never.

  Vito rolled his window down some more, listening. “The police just served her with a search warrant. I think for Loretta’s car.”

  “And what is Loretta saying?”

  Vito winced. “You’re a lady. I don’t think you’d like me to repeat those words to you. But let’s just say she isn’t happy about it.”

  Loretta took the paper and scanned it. Then she threw up her hands and pushed open the door. Hobbling with the help of a cane, she followed the two officers out to the four-car garage across from them. As they walked, Loretta said, “What for? I don’t lock it!” but there was a little back-and-forth, until Loretta finally handed the younger officer the keys and motioned to the first bay, still cursing loudly in Italian. The office lifted the door on the first garage bay to reveal a white, old-model Mercedes in pristine condition.

  Vito whistled. “Look at that car. I haven’t seen Loretta out driving that baby since I first got here. That was years ago.”

  Audrey squinted as the officers went deeper into the garage and opened the doors. A moment later, the trunk was popped, and Lorenzo leaned inside, moving things around. Meanwhile, Mrs. Mauro stood there, leaning on her cane and gesturing wildly with her free hand. From her tone of voice, Audrey gathered it was probably more words that “a lady shouldn’t hear.”

  “Wow,” Vito breathed.

  “What?” Audrey asked him.

  “Well, they’ve got to be pretty hard up if they think they’re going to find something in there. That car probably hasn’t been out of there in ages.”

  “You have to be wrong about that. How does she get her food and—”

  “She has a girl bring it up to her. She doesn’t leave the house. Hardly at all,” he murmured, his hands wrapped around the steering wheel. “So where did this great lead come from? Because I’m telling you . . . if I was a police officer and someone told me to look in Loretta Mauro’s car, I’d
put that lead at the bottom of the pile. No way would I consider it a hot lead.”

  “Huh,” Audrey said. “It doesn’t seem credible, does it? Considering she doesn’t exactly seem like—”

  “But this is Lipari. I doubt they get many leads at all. They probably—” He stopped speaking as Officer Lorenzo lifted something out of the trunk. She reached into her pocket and pulled out an evidence bag, then stuffed the thing inside. “What’s that?”

  Audrey leaned closer. “It looks like a vial of medicine.” She gasped. “I bet I know what kind.”

  Vito looked at her and they both spoke at the same time: “Pentobarbital.” He blinked. “Whoa. Things are about to get real.”

  She nodded as Loretta stared at the thing in confusion and shouted, “Cos’è quello. Non l’ho mai visto prima in vita mia!” What is that? I’ve never seen that before in my life!

  Vito said, “She’s saying that she’s never—”

  “Thanks, but I got it,” Audrey said as Lorenzo stepped away from the car and moved toward the doctor’s wife, grabbing at her waist for her handcuffs.

  To Audrey’s disbelief, she motioned for the old woman to turn around. As she gently snapped on the cuffs, Loretta wailed in indignation. Does this mean I’m off the hook? Audrey wondered.

  As she guided Loretta toward the police cruiser, Lorenzo gave Audrey the stink-eye. Apparently not. Or maybe she’s just upset because she told me to leave and I haven’t yet. I haven’t been very good at following her directions.

  “Um,” Audrey said, nudging Vito. “We’d better go.”

  “Right.” He started up the car, looking a little shell-shocked. “What just happened? Because unless I’m seeing things, they just arrested Loretta Mauro for murdering her husband.”

  Audrey blinked in disbelief. “I saw that, too,” she said, still rattled as she watched the frail woman being placed in the back of the cruiser. “But come on. Let’s go back to the shelter. I’m sure Sabina needs us.”

  “Yeah. But I really didn’t see that one coming,” Vito said, pulling away from the curb.