Chapter 22
It stopped snowing around midnight, and Thursday dawned bright and clear.
I had slept well and I was awake shortly after dawn.
I dressed quietly and tiptoed out into the corridor with Oscar.
When we reached the hall, I found Winston sprawled on the doormat.
As soon as he saw us, his tail started thumping on the ground, so I opened the door and followed the two dogs into the open air.
Outside, it was still bitterly cold, but the sky was clear and the air wonderfully clean.
Florence, because it’s situated in a valley, often suffers from air pollution, and it was wonderful to be able to breathe freely for a change.
The only problem was that the air itself was so cold that I ended up wrapping my scarf across my face again.
As before, the dogs had no such problems, and Oscar soon managed to locate his all-important stick.
Winston headed off in a new direction, to the rear of the villa, and Oscar and I followed, the two of us playing fetch.
Although the snow hadn’t been particularly heavy last night, Tuesday’s storm had hidden any paths there might have been beneath my feet, and so I found myself walking blindly through a foot or more of snow, hoping I wouldn’t end up slipping on ice and breaking something as well.
In fairness, Winston seemed to know where he was going, so I followed his paw prints, and we completed a circular walk without incident.
When I got back to the villa again, I found Paolo in the hall and he gave me a wave.
‘That was William on the phone. They’ve put his ankle in a plaster cast, and he’s ready to come back again. I should easily be able to get down to San Giorgio in the Land Rover, but I really need to clear the track properly so that everybody who needs to leave today can drive out.’
Before he could go on, a thought occurred to me.
‘Tell me where the hospital is, and I’ll take the Land Rover and pick William up.
That way, you can get on with clearing the track.
’ More importantly from my point of view, this would give me some time alone with William, when I could put all my questions to him in private.
Paolo accepted my offer gratefully but advised me to have my breakfast first. He explained that the hospital was in Lanzo, a town down at the entrance to the three valleys, and about half an hour from here.
That sounded good to me; it should give me ample time to question William on the way home.
I went back to our room, where Anna was finishing getting dressed, and I explained what I was going to do.
She asked if I wanted company, and I then had to explain that my offer of help had come with an ulterior motive.
She smiled benevolently at me. ‘You still reckon the Carabinieri have got it wrong, don’t you?
Do you think William did it?’ She gave me a sceptical look.
‘Apart from the fact that I can’t imagine him swatting a fly, Cinzia said that he’s only been working for Aquila for three months, so surely it’s unlikely that he could already have made up his mind to murder his boss. ’
I played down any thought of William as a murderer – or an embezzler – for now and changed the subject. ‘You seem to have made a friend in Cinzia.’ As I said it, I found myself wondering whether her husband, Aquila’s Head of Accounts, might himself turn out to be the embezzler.
Anna nodded uncertainly. ‘It’s always good to talk to another historian, but her mind really wasn’t on it.
It’s clear that she’s very upset, and I thought it was because of Bartolomeo’s death, but, from a few little comments she let slip, I have a feeling things aren’t going so well between her and her husband. ’
I registered the information. Maybe Cinzia’s obvious distress, which I had assumed to be at the death of our host, might in fact have been caused by trouble closer to home.
By the same token, Calogero’s fairly morose attitude might be down to marital problems as well.
Maybe I had been wrong in thinking that she might have had a close relationship with Bartolomeo or that he might have been involved with embezzlement or even murder.
After giving Oscar his breakfast, Anna and I went downstairs for ours. Umberto and Gloria were sitting at one table, looking remarkably cheerful, and we received smiles of greeting from both of them. On another was Selena and she beckoned to us to join her. She started with an apology.
‘I’m really sorry for getting you caught up in this business.
The honest truth is that I didn’t realise what an absolute slimeball Bartolomeo was until I got here.
I would never have given him your name if I’d known what he was like.
The more I hear about him, the more surprised I am that somebody hadn’t tried to kill him a long time ago.
’ She gave a surreptitious nod in the direction of Gloria, who was occupied talking animatedly to her husband.
‘She told me last night about how he assaulted her on Monday. The man had no boundaries.’
I gave her a reassuring smile. ‘I’m always grateful to anybody who recommends my services, and you had no way of knowing how things would pan out, or what level of lowlife our host turned out to be.
Besides, it’s been great to catch up with you again.
Anyway, the police have decided that it was an accident, so I suggest you just try to forget about it.
Have you decided whether you’re going to be the face of Aquila? ’
I was mildly surprised to see her nod. ‘Yes, I’ve said I’ll do it. When all’s said and done, Aquila does produce some pretty neat gear. Now that both deaths have been written off as unfortunate accidents, there’s no risk of a big scandal blowing up, so why not?’
‘And you think you’ll be okay working with Ingrid?’
‘That was the clincher. I won’t be working with her after all.
Orlando has made her an offer she can’t refuse.
He’s buying her out and so he’ll be calling all the shots – and I reckon Valentina’s going to get more involved now as well.
I get on fine with both of them, so, as I say, why not?
’ She gave us another smile. ‘Besides, this should mean that I’ll be coming back to Italy before too long, so hopefully, we’ll be able to meet up again in more peaceful circumstances.
’ Her expression became more serious and she lowered her voice, although the others were on the far side of the room.
‘Do you think the police have got it right? Was it really an accident?’
Considering that she had just referred to the two deaths as accidents, this seemed an unexpected question. If she still had doubts, why had she signed the contract with the company?
‘I’ll be quite honest with you, Selena, there’s a part of me that still thinks it was murder, but I haven’t been able to find a shred of hard evidence against anybody.
Bartolomeo was worried that somebody might be targeting him because he’d convinced himself that his business partner had been murdered, but I’ve spoken to the local police who dealt with the accident and they’ve convinced me that that’s what it was – an unfortunate accident.
I know the officer in charge of the case well and I trust his judgement.
So, if that was an accident, maybe I should just accept that this was as well. ’
She gave me a cheeky grin and a wink. ‘But you won’t, will you? I know you, Dan Armstrong; you’re like Oscar with a bone. You just can’t let it go.’
At her side, Oscar looked up and started wagging his tail at the sound of his name – or possibly mention of the word ‘bone’ – and I reflected that the old adage about people growing to be like their pets probably had more than a grain of truth to it.
First, my increasing appetite, and now my fixation with certain things – Oscar and I would soon be indistinguishable from each other, give or take a few extra legs and a tail.
* * *
The Land Rover easily negotiated the snowy track to San Giorgio, where I found the road down to the valley mostly – but not completely – clear of snow and ice.
I thoroughly enjoyed driving the chunky old vehicle, which was clearly in its element in these conditions, and, unsurprisingly, I found little traffic on the roads.
The hospital in Lanzo Torinese was a smart modern building with remarkably easy parking outside, and I left Oscar to guard the Land Rover while I went in to collect William.
An orderly wheeled him out in a wheelchair and we helped him climb into the passenger seat.
The plaster cast was only on the lower part of his leg so he was able to bend his knee, and he was looking a lot better than the last time I had seen him.
I stowed his crutches in the back, dissuaded Oscar from breathing down his neck, and we set off up the valley again. After a few minutes of listening to him talking warmly about his experience at the hands of the Italian medics, I gently launched into my questions.
‘The Carabinieri were in touch last night to say that they’ve completed their investigation and they’re confident that your boss slipped and fell to his death.
It’s been dismissed as an accident, and the case has been closed.
I’ve also spoken to the police who investigated the death of Vincenzo Mazzini, and it’s clear that that was also an accident, so it’s all over.
’ I let my eyes flick sideways a few times to check his expression and definitely felt that I spotted relief.
Was this the relief of a murderer who thought he had got away with it?
His tone when he answered was one of satisfaction.
‘I’m glad to hear that.’ He stopped and corrected himself. ‘I mean, I’m sorry Signor Viviani and his partner are dead, but I’m relieved that they weren’t murdered.’
‘Why do you say you feel relieved?’