Chapter 14 #3
Any further discussion of rocks was interrupted by the arrival of Marina with the news that Paolo had returned from ferrying the Carabinieri to their Land Rover and that he would be coming out with the pasta course in a few moments.
In the meantime, she brought bottles of a different red wine for us to try – this time Dolcetto.
Although I was initially concerned because dolce in Italian means sweet, this wine was a full-bodied, dry, fruity red, to me not dissimilar to a Rioja – but what do I know?
The pasta course turned out to be lasagne and it was predictably excellent.
This was followed by a delicious stew, not dissimilar to what I had had with my polenta at lunchtime.
I could feel my belt tightening and I managed to summon the self-control to say no to a tiramisu afterwards.
I glanced down to where Oscar was sprawled on the floor at my feet.
His eyes were closed, but his nostrils were whiffling with interest, and the expression on his face was one of martyrdom that he had been left out of the feast. Not that he had done too badly.
From time to time, he had wandered under the table to the other side and I had noticed both Fiona and William handing him down succulent pieces of meat.
Unlike me, he didn’t wear a belt – and that was probably just as well.
After dinner, Valentina repeated her invitation to me to come and see her collection of mineral samples, so I followed her through to what she called the games room.
This contained a massive TV screen, a pool table, a dartboard, a gaming computer, a pile of board games in boxes and, over to one side, a large glass-fronted cabinet.
In this was a sparkling collection of crystals and other pieces of rock.
Valentina talked me through the collection – all of which she said she had either found herself or obtained by trading with other enthusiasts in the valley.
Among these were the specimens she had mentioned at table.
Magnetite turned out to be pyramid-shaped black crystals sticking out of a shiny dark-silver stone, and she demonstrated its unique property by picking up a teaspoon and approaching the sample with it in her hand until it was suddenly sucked from her grasp onto the rock.
It really was magnetic. Diopside and vesuvianite crystals were different shades of green, and garnets varied from a light orange to a ruby-red colour, and I discovered that Pian dei Granati, where I had had lunch, was named after these little gems. She clearly knew her stuff and I found her explanation clear and interesting.
What was more interesting, however, was what she said at the end.
‘As I think I told you yesterday, the mine down the valley from here produced reasonable-grade iron ore for the first half of the twentieth century, but the arrival of cheaper imports resulted in it being closed down. I’ve been in there, searching around, and I’ve found traces of copper – but not in viable quantities – as well as pyrite, fool’s gold.
’ She pointed to a very impressive-looking lump of large golden crystals in the display case that certainly would have had me fooled, but then she said something that set a little bell ringing in my head.
‘Some Americans even came knocking on the door a few days ago claiming they wanted to reopen the old mine. Personally, I think they’re wasting their time, but they were desperate to do a deal with my father for the mining rights.
As you can probably imagine, he sent them packing.
Nothing was going to be allowed to spoil the peace and quiet of what he called his little piece of paradise. ’
My head was buzzing. How many Americans were there around here with an interest in minerals?
I felt pretty sure I knew the answer to this one.
Assuming that the two beardies in the pickup were the same Americans who had expressed interest in reopening the mine – and that seemed highly likely – the fact was that their crashed pickup proved that they had been in the vicinity at the time when Valentina’s father had died.
Could it be that I had just been handed another possible motive for murder and two completely different potential perpetrators?
I pressed her for more information. ‘Did you see the two guys when they came to see your father? Can you remember precisely when that was?’
She gave me a curious look but answered my questions willingly enough.
‘What’s today… Tuesday, right? Then it would have been last Friday morning, late morning.
As for a description of them, I only saw them briefly, but I’m sure I would recognise them anywhere.
They were both big guys with bushy black beards and they arrived in a red pickup.
’ She gave me a searching look. ‘Where are you going with this?’ She gave a little gasp as realisation dawned on her.
‘Do you think they might have been involved with my father’s death?
Do you think they killed him?’ Her voice tailed off as she contemplated the enormity of what she had just said, and I offered a few calming words.
‘It may just be a coincidence. They probably had nothing to do with it.’
She looked me in the eye and I read shock, horror and growing anger on her face. ‘But maybe they did.’
Maybe they did indeed – or maybe she did and she was just a talented actor.