by Beate Boeker
Piedro sighed, then left, banging the door.
Garini didn't move. “Come on, Gracy,” he said with a low voice. “Uncle Teo and Aunt Violetta are missing you. So are your friends with the strange names, which I forgot. You must be hungry.”
It took him fifteen minutes of gentle coaxing, inching the cucumber closer and closer to the guinea pig, but finally, he managed to touch her, caress her, and pick her up, while she still munched the cucumber. He smiled a little. As a boy, he'd had a pet guinea pig, but it had been eternally nervous, always trembling in his hands. Not so Gracy. In spite of her terrifying experience, she seemed happy enough, munching the cucumber with enthusiasm. He stroked her glossy fur and made a surprising discovery. Shaking his head, he looked at the guinea pig. “Now what am I to do with you?” he said. “I can hardly continue this investigation with a guinea pig in my hands. I guess I'll have to take you home.” He sighed. “And then, I'll have to face Emma.”
The inside pocket of his leather jacket was just large enough to accommodate Gracy. He eased her inside, cucumber included, told her sternly to behave herself, and returned to the bar.
Piedro was laughing with Filippo, but stopped with a guilty expression when Garini turned up. “All done?” Garini looked at the two.
“Yeah.” Piedro lifted his notes. “We can print it out later, and Filippo will sign his statement.”
“Did you talk about the knife?”
Piedro nodded. “Yeah. Filippo told me it looks as if it had come from their stash at the bar.”
“I need you to return to the police station and get an expert to check on this. I also want you to read up on the notes of the case, familiarize yourself with all the details.” And in the meantime, I'll talk to Emma, off the record.
Gracy wriggled in his pocket.
Garini picked up another piece of cucumber and looked at the barkeeper. “Thanks for the cucumber, by the way.” He popped it into his mouth.
Filippo smiled. “My pleasure.”
It didn't take Garini long to reach the Mantoni house, though he drove carefully to avoid shaking Gracy too much. “Almost there, Gracy.”
He arrived at the same time as Aunt Violetta, whose wheelchair was pushed by her adopted son, Omar.
Garini smiled at Omar. Due to a traumatic experience in his youth in Egypt, Omar had never talked, but Garini felt close to him. He waited until the tall Egyptian and his stepmother were safely inside the house, then reached inside his jacket.
Uncle Teo appeared from his apartment. “Stefano! Did you have any success?”
“Yes.” Garini eased Gracy out of his pocket. His shirt would have to go to the cleaner's. Did cucumber mush cause irremovable stains? “Here you are. Don't lose her again.”
Aunt Violetta clapped her hands. “Famous! We were so worried! Where did you find her?” She took Gracy onto her ample lap and caressed her.
“In the men's room. Make sure you give her something to drink soon, and then you'd best read up on special diets for guinea pigs.”
Uncle Teo frowned. “Special diets? Why should she need a special diet?”
“Because she's pregnant.”
Utter silence greeted his statement.
“But she's barely half a year old, the pet shop owner said.” Uncle Teo sounded flabbergasted.
“Guinea pigs can become pregnant at an early age. Didn't you read up on them before you bought them?”
Aunt Violetta blinked. “I didn't know you're an expert on guinea pigs.”
“I'm not. But you can already feel it. She's far advanced. I had a guinea pig as a boy, and a friend of mine had several that also had babies. That's how I know.”
Uncle Teo stared at Gracy. “So that's why she looked so fat.”
Garini smiled. “Don't let the ladies hear you.” He turned to the stairs.
“Where are you going?” Aunt Violetta boomed.
He sighed. “I'll have a chat with Emma, now I'm here.”
Aunt Violetta's hand shot out and held him like a claw. “Is it about Lucio?”
He looked down at her. “Sort of.”
“Is he all right?”
“I'm sure Emma will give you all the details.” He plucked her fingers off his arm and hurried upstairs. “Your first priority should be Gracy now.” Thank God for the guinea pig. I hope that'll delay them until the worst is over.
He knocked at Emma's apartment door on the first floor with a hollow feeling inside. How do you tell a young mother that her husband was found drunk in the arms of a dead prostitute?
His wife opened the door. Stefano's jaw dropped. “Carlina! What are you doing here?”
She smiled a little. “Holding Emma's hands. She's beyond herself with worry.”
He lowered his voice. “What have you told her?”
“So far, nothing. I wanted to wait until I had more information.” She looked at him in doubt. “I was hoping you'd bring good news?”
He shook his head. “I'm afraid not.”
She straightened her back. “All right. In that case, let's get it over with.” She took a deep breath. “I think it's best if you tell her everything you know.”
“It's not pretty.”
“She's strong. She'll take it.”
“All right.” He took off his jacket.
She stared at his shirt. “What on earth is that green goo?”
“Cucumber mush. I hope.”
“Excuse me?”
He had to smile, in spite of everything. “I'll explain later. Now –”
Emma shot out of her living room, little Zoe in her arms. “Where's Lucio?”
Garini took a deep breath. He met her fierce gaze, and suddenly, he had an inspiration. “I'll take you to see him.”
“Why can't he come here?”
“He'll explain personally.”
“I've got Zoe.”
Stefano looked at Carlina. “Carlina, do you think you could take care of Zoe until we return?”
Carlina looked a bit doubtful. “I'd rather come with you. Maybe Benedetta could take her?”
Emma nodded. “I'll ask her.” She ran out of the apartment, but returned within minutes. “It's all right. I've just fed her, and she'll be asleep for a while. Mamma will come over and stay here. I've got to be back in an hour and a half, though.”
Garini nodded. “All right.”
They took Emma's car. During the drive, he didn't say a word. Neither did Carlina nor Emma. The tension was so tangible he could almost feel it in his hands like a solid block. Without any further explanation, he took them to the prison hospital. When they entered the building with him, their eyes widened, but neither of them said a word. In front of Lucio's room, he stopped Carlina. “We'll give them a bit of privacy first. Go ahead, Emma.”
Emma threw him an insecure look, but she obeyed and closed the door behind her.
“Phew.” He wiped his brow and leaned against the white wall.
“Stefano.” Carlina's voice was a whisper. “Is this a prison hospital?”
“Yes.”
“Why is Lucio here?”
He looked at her and bit his lip.
She lifted her chin. “Tell me.”
“All right.” He took a deep breath. “During a drug raid in a nightclub last night, he was found dead drunk in the arms of a stabbed prostitute with the name Ambrosia Amore. The knife in her back had his fingerprints.”
Carlina blanched.
He grabbed her arm. “Don't faint, please. I need you to support Emma when she comes out again.”
Carlina stared at the door with fear in her eyes. “She'll kill him.”
He frowned. “In that case, we should go in.”
She grabbed his arm. “Wait. What does Lucio say about it?”
“He says he can't recall anything beyond the point when the prostitute asked him to find a rat for him.”
Carlina blinked.
A door farther down in the corridor opened, and the blonde doctor appeared. She saw them, and hurri
ed up to them. “Glad to see you, commissario.” She spared a brief nod for Carlina. “Those blood tests you asked me to do? I just got the results.”
“Good. What did they say?”
Her look annihilated him. “They found nothing. He only had vast quantities of alcohol in his blood. Nothing else. Will your cost center cover the bill? I told you those tests are expensive, didn't I?”
Damn. “Yes, you did. And yes, of course I'll cover the bill. Send the invoice to me, please. Thanks for letting me know.”
A thin smile. “My pleasure. Make sure he gets a good attorney. He'll need one.”
Carlina gasped.
The door to Lucio's room flew open, and Emma poked her head out. She looked furious. “Stefano? Could you please come in for a moment?”
“Sure.” He didn't bother to say goodbye to the doctor. Instead, he took Carlina by the elbow and steered her into the room with him.
Emma stood by Lucio's bed, her arms crossed, her foot tapping. “Could you please tell me what happened last night? Lucio tells me a story I'm unable to believe.”
Lucio sat in a huddle of misery in bed. He was still pale, and the dark stubble on his chin gave him a disreputable look.
Garini tried a soothing smile. “We're still investigating, so I don't have all the pieces of the puzzle yet.”
“Stop prevaricating,” Emma snapped. “I know you guys are all the same. The old boys always want to keep all the information to themselves, but I want the truth. I'll have it out of you, and if I have to dig so deep that it hurts, then so be it.”
Stefano buried his hands in his trouser pockets and leaned against the wall. “Well, in that case, we can start right away, because I also have a few questions. Apparently, there was a sort of alternative Mantoni family gathering at the Inferno d'Oro last night. Not only was Lucio there, but you joined in the fray, bringing Zoe, and Uncle Teo and Aunt Violetta were also present, together with their guinea pigs. From what I know so far, all of you were running around the nightclub at the exact time when the murder was committed.”
Carlina gasped. “What?”
Emma narrowed her eyes. “Uncle Teo and Aunt Violetta? What on earth were they doing there?”
“Some sort of initiation for gambling rookies. But I admit I'm more interested in your moves, Emma. You were jealous, you were insecure. You headed out to the nightclub to see if you could find your husband.”
She balled her fists. “You've got no proof of that!”
“Oh no? You're wrong, dear. You were already identified, and I know you had a Diet Coke at the bar.”
Emma paled.
“So maybe you grabbed a knife from behind the bar when nobody looked, to make you feel safer. And maybe, when you went to the bathroom, you stumbled across your husband in a compromising position with a prostitute. You've got a temper, we all know that. It would have been quite a natural reaction to stab the knife into the back of the prostitute, wouldn't it?”
“Stefano, stop!” Lucio jumped out of bed, stumbled, and would have fallen if he hadn't grabbed the metal frame of the bed. “Emma wasn't there!”
“How would you know? You were so drunk you can't recall anything.”
Lucio shook his head. “I know why I went to that room with the prostitute, and at that point, Emma was nowhere around. The girl asked me to find a rat for her.”
“A rat!” Emma snorted. “Now that's a new pick-up line if ever I heard one. I don't think that any nightclub would survive very long if it had rats running loose.”
“Actually, that's the part I find easiest to believe,” Garini said. “And I think she saw Grazia Afrodite Venere.”
Emma blinked. “Another prostitute?”
“No. A guinea pig.”
Carlina stared at him. “You mean Gracy?”
He nodded. “Aunt Violetta and Uncle Teo lost her earlier that night, and several people saw her flitting around. Of course, they all jumped to the conclusion that it must have been a rat.”
“Is Gracy still at the nightclub?”
He shook his head. “No. I found her and restored her to the bosom of the family before we came here.” He made sure his voice sounded ironic and gestured toward his shirt. “Hence the green goo.”
Emma lifted her fists. “I'm not interested in guinea pigs! I want to know what Lucio did!”
Her husband sat on the bed and looked like a sad dog at her. “Emma, carissima, I didn't do a thing. I had a drink, I felt sick, I’d lain down on the floor to look for the rat, and that's all I remember. Please believe me.”
She put her hands onto her hips. “As if! You've been away from home for weeks, and I'm all on my own, and worrying all the time that you …” Her shoulders started to heave “... that you don't find me attractive anymore and have found someone new.”
“Oh, no, oh, no, my love.” This time, he got up without stumbling and took her into his arms. “There is no other woman, I swear. There never was.”
Carlina studied her fingernails.
Garini looked out the window.
After some minutes, he turned back to the couple now sitting on Lucio's bed. “Look, I'm glad you've made up, but you still have to explain your actions to me, Emma. Tell me every step you took at that club.”
Emma sighed. “There's nothing much to tell. I went in –”
“How did you get in?”
“Oh, there was a group of men. I pretended to be with one of them, and so I slipped in.”
“Neat. When was this?”
“Around ten, I believe.”
“And then?”
“Well, I lost that group and walked around the club.” She gave a disparaging look at Lucio. “Those pole dancers are really …”
He lifted both hands. “It wasn't my choice.”
Her mouth looked pinched. “Well. Anyway, I walked around the club and tried to find Lucio, but he wasn't there. I wasn't sure if it was the right place, but I'd found matches from the Inferno d'Oro in one of his trouser pockets, so I decided to try my luck. I was too antsy to remain at home, all alone. I was thirsty, so I got myself a Diet Coke, and then, I went to the bathroom.”
“We're now coming to the exciting part.”
She frowned. “The bathroom?”
“No. The way there. There are secret rooms, almost indiscernible in the walls, all along the way to the bathroom. By that time, Lucio must have been in one of them.”
“I didn't see any doors or secret rooms. The place was badly lit. I found the bathroom, looked at the mirror, decided I was making a fool of myself, and went home.”
“When was that?”
Emma lifted both shoulders. “I'm not sure, but I didn't stay long at the club. Half an hour? Forty minutes? Not much more.”
“And that's it?”
“Yeah.”
“You didn't see anything of Lucio?”
“Nothing at all. Would I have run to your place if I had found him?”
“I don't know. Maybe if you had killed the prostitute, to establish a sort of alibi?”
Lucio started up. “Stefano! I forbid you to insult my wife!”
Carlina shook her head. “In that case, she wouldn't have waited for some hours, would she? She only came to our apartment around two.”
“What did you do in the meantime, Emma?”
Emma sighed. “I didn't know about any other possible nightclub, so I returned home. I fed Zoe. I changed her diaper. I tried to sleep. I got more and more nervous. I fell asleep. Had a horrible nightmare. Finally, I couldn't stand it anymore, so I gave up and ran to find some comfort with Carlina.”
Garini sighed. “None of this is getting me anywhere. So far, I have plenty of Mantonis with motives hopping around at the time of the murder.”
Carlina opened her eyes wide. “Plenty of Mantonis? Do you seriously want to suggest that Aunt Violetta and Uncle Teo could have murdered the poor girl?”
He rubbed his chin with the back of his fingers. “If they had seen Lucio in a compromising situat
ion, I would say that all bets are off.”
“Rubbish.” Emma glared at him.
“I agree that your motive is much likelier.” He was all cordiality.
She got up. “Well, I didn't kill her. You just have to believe that.”
“And I didn't kill her, either,” Lucio said with a firm voice. He looked at Emma. “And I didn't cheat on you.”
Emma looked as if she couldn't make up her mind about believing him.
Garini went to the door. “I'll keep an open mind. And now, if you don't mind, we've got to leave.”
Emma hesitated. “Can I come back and see Lucio again?”
He nodded. “I'll tell the doctor to give you a visitor's pass, but I think he'll be transferred to prison tomorrow.”
All three stared at him. “To prison?”
He shrugged. “Yes. So far, the evidence is overwhelming.”
Emma swallowed. “I don't want to have a husband in prison.” She looked at Lucio with narrowed eyes. “I'm not sure I believe you – yet. But we'll do everything to get you out of here. Don't worry.”
Garini lifted his eyebrows. “I'd much prefer if you left the investigation to me, Emma.”
She gave him a cool look. “We'll see.”
Emma drove them back to the Mantoni house. Stefano and Carlina grabbed a bite to eat, then Stefano changed his shirt and returned to the office. He had to write down everything he'd learned, get some structure and method into all the details. There were far too many Mantonis involved. The uneasiness between his shoulder blades increased when he thought of the contemptuous look of the blonde doctor. She expected him to bend the rules, just because he was related to the prime suspect. No way would he do that. He still had to face himself every morning in the mirror.
He fiddled with the timetable and wrote down everything he'd learned. It didn't look good – there was a solid case against Lucio, and failing him, Emma could also be nicely cast into the role of murderer. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. They felt gritty, and his arms were heavy. The lack of sleep was catching up with him. Hopefully it wasn't the measles. He stretched and looked at his watch. Four o'clock in the afternoon. He could go home for a quick nap and then return to the nightclub later. Tonio had told him they would finish in the afternoon, allowing the club to open for business again that night. Yes, that would be his best move, even though it was probably going to be empty, because of the raid. Or it might not. People might be driven by curiosity or might be too nervous to stay away. Anyway, he could talk to Ambrosia Amore's colleagues, try to find out more about her private life.