Delayed Death (Temptation in Florence Book 1) (12 page)

Stefano Garini opened the window of Nico's living room and took a deep breath. He had suggested this room as neutral territory, but he had not counted on the stuffy smell. Carlina's apartment had been a lot more cheerful. He had felt at ease with her, something he didn't want and couldn't use. She was his main suspect, and it wouldn't do to look for the ready smile to emerge in those cat-like eyes, or for the crinkle of amusement in the corner of her mouth.

He closed the window and leaned with his back against the sill, waiting for Benedetta to join him. If he was lucky, she would stick to his instructions and come without another family member in tow.

He shook his head. The Mantonis made him feel as if he was walking on eggs. You never knew when the next would crack. The whole case had started on a bad footing, and that's how it continued. First, his mistake not to take the death seriously. Second, Carlina with her cat-like eyes who didn't fit into any category he knew. Third, her family, a collection of crazy bats if he ever saw one. Cat food as a snack! What else would they tell him?

He had to handle them all on his own. He frowned. Where was Piedro anyway? He shouldn't be doing the interviews by himself. Stefano whipped out his cell phone and called his subordinate. "Piedro. Where are you?" This time, he didn't try to veil the threat in his voice.

"I missed the train in Pisa and had to wait for over an hour because the next train was delayed, but I'm only ten minutes away from the office now." Piedro puffed into the phone as if he was running.

"Don't go to the office. Come to Via delle Pinzochere 10 directly."

"Where?"

"To the house where the old man died."

"Oh, all right."

Stefano heard the suppressed sigh in Piedro's voice. "Get something to eat on the way. It'll be a long evening."

"Okay." Piedro sounded sullen now.

Garini hung up and shook his head.
How a man as wily as Signor Cervi ended up with a son like Piedro will always remain a mystery to me.

The door opened and Benedetta came in. "You wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes." Stefano made a move with his hand. "Please take a seat." He took out his recorder. "Do you agree to my recording this conversation?"

"Of course." Benedetta had applied new lipstick and smiled at him. "We all wish to find father's murderer."

Stefano explained what he wanted to know and watched her reaction.

Benedetta cocked her head to one side and pursed her lips. "Let's see. Uncle Nico said so many things I didn't pay attention anymore." She cocked her head to the other side.

Stefano started to feel as if he was in a theater show.

"No, I can't recall anything." Benedetta shrugged. "It was such nonsense; I never bothered to remember."

"How about the other family members? He suggested quite a few different things from the past, didn't he?"

"Well." Benedetta shrugged. "I think he once said that Aunt Maria had a drinking problem and compensated for it by eating garlic."

Jesus.
"Did you believe him?"

Benedetta made a wary move with her hands. "Of course not. Even if he was my father, he was an old man and delighted in mischief. You couldn't take anything seriously, no matter what he said."

"I see." Stefano looked at her.
I don't believe a word.
"Where were you on your daughter's wedding day between eleven and two?"

Benedetta looked affronted. "Well, I was at Emma's wedding, of course."

"The ceremony only started at one."

"Yes." Benedetta drew herself up. "But, unlike Emma, I arrived early." Her red mouth twisted. "Very early. Emma was quite nervous and had asked us all to leave her alone."

He frowned. "All but her cousin Carlina, that is."
Maybe they killed him together.

"Of course." Benedetta shrugged. "Carlina and Emma . . . " She shook her head. "They're inseparable, in spite of the age difference." She pressed her mouth together as if she did not approve of that friendship.

"How many years separate them?"

"Nine years." Benedetta shook her head again. "Carlina always helped Emma."

"Is that a bad thing?"

The red lips pursed. "She helped her to get into mischief more than once."

Stefano didn't take his gaze off Benedetta. She seemed like an overprotective mother. Still, he made a mental note to find out more about this mischief. "Thank you. Please ask Teodoro to come to me now."

Benedetta got up. "It wasn't anybody from the family, Stefano, believe me. You're wasting your time here. Better start looking further away."

He inclined his head.
No way.

Benedetta collided with Piedro in the door.

"Ah, my long lost assistant." Stefano nodded. "Please take out your notebook and note everything that is being said, Piedro."

Piedro nodded and chose his old seat on the footstool.

Teodoro Mantoni skipped into the room as if he had been through a rejuvenating bath. "Carlina already told me what you need to know. I am to give you an account of the bad past stories."

Garini nodded. "That's right."
I wonder if you will.

Uncle Teo sat down and lifted his thumb. "Number one: Nico told Fabbiola that Carlina wasn't her father's child." He looked up and stared at the Commissario out of rheumy eyes. "Utter nonsense, of course. The child is a true Mantoni."

She will always be a true Mantoni because of her mother, no matter who her father was.
Stefano made sure his face didn't show his thoughts.

Uncle Teo lifted his index finger. "Number two: He told Carlina she had rejected a prince and would end up marrying a garbage man."

Stefano bent forward. "A what?"

"A garbage man."

"Not a butcher?"

"A butcher?" Uncle Teo blinked. "I said nothing whatsoever about a butcher. Do you have problems with your ears, young man?"

"No." Stefano said with a small smile. "Not at all."
The little witch.

Uncle Teo lifted his middle finger. "Number three: He told Benedetta she had killed her husband by nagging him into his grave."

And she doesn't recall that? Fat chance.
Stefano narrowed his eyes. "How did he die?"

"He died of a gastric ulcer seven years ago." Uncle Teo shook his head. "The young men today aren't what they used to be. No stamina, if you understand what I mean."

Stamina to live with the Mantoni women?
Stefano suppressed a desire to laugh and nodded with a grave expression.

Uncle Teo came to his ring finger. "Number four: He said Annalisa had cheated on her final exams in school."

Stefano looked at the old man in front of him. "Had she?"

Uncle Teo waggled his head. "She was very good friends with the young teacher. That's all I know."

Whoa.
Stefano swallowed.

Uncle Teo's small finger came up. "Number five: He said Ernesto always comes home in the middle of the night by way of the balcony." He contemplated his small finger as if he had never seen it before. "I'm glad Nico didn't say that in front of Benedetta."

"Is it true?"

"Of course." Uncle Teo nodded so hard, his wisps of white hair started to shake. "I did it myself when I was his age. It's not a sin, young man."

"Of course not." Stefano glanced at Piedro.
I hope you manage to note all this without mistakes.

Uncle Teo dropped his right hand into his lap and started on his left. "Number six: Nico said I had an affair with Signorina Electra." He chuckled and seemed to sink into reminiscences.

Stefano waited. The nearly bald crown of the head in front of him sunk deeper, the dark age spots visible on the pink scalp shining through the tufts of white hair. "Signor Mantoni?"

The old man roused himself. "Where was I? Oh, yes. Electra. Well, I had a--" he stopped and stared at Garini from underneath his bushy eyebrows. "Are you related to her?"

"No. I got to know her years ago because of another case."

"Ah." Uncle Teo nodded. "Well, I had a crush on her, when I was a very young man." He winked at Stefano. "That was before Maria, you understand."

I wonder.
"How old were you approximately?"

"Oh," Uncle Teo waved a pale hand through the air, "sixteen or seventeen." He nodded again. "A long time ago, as I said."

"Quite."

The index finger came up. "Number seven: He said Maria had a drinking problem which she kept in check by eating garlic cloves."

Stefano waited for Uncle Teo to continue.

"Utter nonsense, of course." Uncle Teo shook his head with a frown. "She has an eating problem which she manages to control with the garlic cloves."

Stefano bent forward. "I don't quite get this."

"Well," Uncle Teo shrugged, "she always carries around a garlic snack, and when the need to eat something becomes too big, she takes one."

"Why garlic?"

Uncle Teo looked at him as if the answer was evident. "Garlic has less calories than chocolate."

"I see."
I'm glad Piedro is here, or I'd start to believe I'm dreaming this case.

"I would appreciate if you wouldn't mention this to Maria," Uncle Teo said. "She's a bit touchy about this subject."

Oh, my God.
"How about stories concerning other family members?"

"Which ones?" Uncle Teo looked at him as if he could continue to list a million other family secrets.

"Angela?"

Uncle Teo shrugged. "Nico said she had blackmailed Marco into their marriage. No chance."

"No?"

"No." Uncle Teo hissed air through his teeth. "Not enough spunk." It was clear Angela wasn't a favorite niece.

Madre mia. I wonder if he would approve of blackmail if he saw it as a proof for spunk.
Stefano nodded. "Anybody else?"

"Let me see . . . " Uncle Teo stared into the distance. His mouth started to twitch, then he wheezed like an asthmatic horse.

Stefano was about to start forward to support his shaking shoulders when he realized Uncle Teo was laughing.

"Number eight." Uncle Teo crowed with laughter as he held up his middle finger. "He said to Alberta she had educated her son to be a criminal."

"Who's Alberta?"

"Alberta is Fabbiola's eldest sister."

"And her son is in prison?"

"No," Uncle Teo slapped his knees. "He's an investor in Dubai and making a fortune."

"Right." Stefano's head started to ache. "Anything else?"

Uncle Teo waved his paper-thin hand again. "Oh, plenty of things, but I can't recall them all. I'll tell you later, when I remember them."

"When did your twin say those things?"

"Always with an audience." Uncle Teo twinkled. "Where would the fun have been otherwise?"

Where indeed?
Stefano started to wonder if the demise of Nico hadn't been a blessing. "So all of these bad past stories were general knowledge?"

Uncle Teo shrugged. "I guess. On the other hand, we didn't talk that much about them."

No wonder.
Stefano stared at the aged man in front of him. "You realize you've just handed me several murder motives on a silver platter, don't you Signor Mantoni?"

Uncle Teo's rheumy eyes suddenly looked sharp. "I do, Commissario Garini."

"Why did you do that?"

Uncle Teo held his gaze. "Murder is wrong. My brother wasn't ready to die." He narrowed his eyes. "I trust your intelligence, Signor. I'm too old to find the truth. I have told you all I know so you can find the murderer."

Stefano swallowed. "Right."

Uncle Teo pulled himself into a standing position. "You will find him." He turned to the door. "If you need help, ask Carlina. She's a sensible girl."

Stefano closed the door behind Uncle Teo and turned to his assistant who was still writing so hectically he was getting red cheeks. He crossed the room in two big strides and stopped next to him. "Did you catch everything?"

"I hope." Piedro looked up, his eyes filled with awe. "Do you think he's sane?"

Garini sighed. "I don't think anybody in this family is normal, let alone sane."

He looked over Piedro's shoulders and read the notes. "Think we can cross anyone off our list already?"

Piedro went through the list again, his finger following each line he had written. For once, Stefano didn't become impatient. He needed a minute himself to organize his thoughts.

Piedro's finger came to a stop. "We can cross off number five. Ernesto. Isn't that the youngest here, seventeen or so, red hair?"

"Yes. Why do you think he's innocent?"

"Well," Piedro blushed. "If he's only going out to party at night, that's no sin, as the old man said."

"That's no sin." Stefano nodded. "But are we sure that he goes out to party? What if he's out because he's dealing with drugs?"