Chapter 17 Rosie – Day 5
Rosie’s back is warmed by the sun. She picks up her glass of freshly pressed orange juice.
The citrus smell fills her nose. Morning sunlight streams across the long wooden dining table, illuminating the jugs of fruit juice and steaming cafetières.
Noisy birds chitter in a high tree. Marianne wanted everyone to eat breakfast together outside this morning before they head out for the day.
Julietta rushes around, her arms laden with heavy plates.
Rosie has offered to help but she is kindly shushed.
‘Still no Carla this morning, Julietta?’ Gerry glances up from his camera screen. He has been showing off his nighttime shots of an owl to anyone who will pay attention.
Julietta sighs in exasperation. ‘No, I don’t know what’s going on with that girl. She has never done this before.’
‘If she changed her mind about working here, she could have had the decency to tell us,’ Gerry tuts.
Rosie analyses Luke’s reaction hearing Carla’s name. He is sitting at the far end of the table. There is nothing in his behaviour to show that the absent member of staff is a concern to him. Did he tell her not to come to work? Or was it her decision to take time off?
Raffi’s cries fill the air. Fenna is standing a little away from the table, swaying gently, patiently trying to calm her son. Marianne fusses around the pair of them, telling Fenna to think about going dairy-free as it might be causing tummy upset in the baby.
There is the sound of tyres on gravel. The slam of a car door.
‘Anyone expecting a delivery?’ Gerry asks, placing his camera beside his mug.
Everyone shakes their head. Julietta goes to see who the visitor is.
Marianne finally leaves Fenna and the baby alone and sits at the head of the table. She asks Luke to pass the milk, oblivious to the look on Fenna’s face.
Julietta rushes to the terrace.
‘It’s the police. They want to talk to you,’ she says, her eyes darting between Gerry and Marianne.
They exchange confused looks and start to stand. The scrape of chairs over the stone tiles goes through Rosie.
‘What now?’ Luke groans, a tiny espresso cup cradled in one hand. ‘If it’s that jumped-up loser Giovanni come to complain about bloody posters again, I’ll lose my mind.’
Before Gerry and Marianne can investigate, the police officer who was here the other day emerges from the house. Luke exhales loudly at the sight of him.
‘Buongiorno,’ Giovanni says. Judging by his stern expression, it’s something more serious than posters.
‘Everything ok, officer?’ Gerry asks.
‘Sorry to interrupt Signore Fraser,’ Giovanni says, glancing at the decadent breakfast spread before them. He clears his throat. ‘I need to find out when you last saw Carla Conti?’
‘Carla? We were just talking about her. She left her shift early on Monday and hasn’t turned up since. She’s not answering her phone and hasn’t returned any of my calls,’ Gerry answers, crossing his arms.
Giovanni notes it down in a palm-sized notepad. ‘So you last saw her two days ago . . .’
‘Is she ok?’ Theo asks the question everyone is thinking.
Giovanni looks up and holds Theo’s gaze. His expression remains tight, giving nothing away. His brown eyes are so dark they are almost black. ‘We don’t know.’
A shiver dances across Rosie’s arms. Alba bangs a spoon against her bowl.
‘What? What do you mean?’ Marianne asks, sitting forward.
Bang, bang, bang.
He clears his throat. ‘She’s missing.’
Bang.
Julietta drops a plate. It shatters on the stone tiles. The sound is drowned out by the rush of blood in Rosie’s ears. Alba bursts into tears at the unexpected noise. Julietta rushes to get a dustpan and brush, apologising for being so clumsy. Her cheeks are flushed.
‘She’s missing?’ Marianne repeats, fumbling to put on her designer sunglasses.
A prickling sensation starts at the base of Rosie’s skull.
‘What time did she leave here on Monday?’ Giovanni asks Gerry.
‘Well, she was supposed to be here until seven but she went before lunchtime and left poor Julietta in the lurch.’ Gerry blinks rapidly. ‘Julietta? Do you know any more?’
Julietta looks up from the shards of ceramic in her hands. ‘She told me she wasn’t feeling well. I don’t know if she was sick or not. Perhaps it was something to do with her boyfriend? Maybe they’d had a row? I know they have problems sometimes.’
‘Have you spoken to him, officer?’ Marianne jumps in. Her fingers play with the gold chain around her throat. ‘The boyfriend?’
Carla has a boyfriend? Rosie turns to Luke to see if his face is giving anything away, but he is picking up a toy that Alba’s dropped.
Giovanni nods. ‘He was the one who reported her.’
Julietta wrings her hands together. ‘I told her she could go home early. When she didn’t turn up for work the next day, I spoke to Mr Fraser, who said he would speak to the agency.’
Gerry nods. ‘They told me someone would call me back but no one has done. Our friend Richard Taylor-Warner was going to suggest a replacement as—’
‘Do you remember exactly what time she left here on Monday?’ Giovanni asks Julietta, interrupting Gerry.
Julietta blinks. ‘It was before lunch. Eleven, maybe eleven thirty. I’m not sure . . .’ She looks uncomfortable having everyone’s attention on her. ‘Do you think something has happened to her?’
‘Her family say it’s unusual for her to not come home so we’re keeping an open mind.
We have a witness who says they saw her at midday, heading towards the town.
Alone. Upset. Wearing her work uniform.’ Giovanni nods to the CCTV cameras.
‘I will need to take a look at the recordings from those. It will help give us an exact timestamp of when she left here.’
‘Of course,’ Marianne says.
‘Carla often takes the shortcut home through the woods and we don’t have cameras all along that way,’ Gerry chimes, cutting into a tomato with his knife, watery red liquid oozing across his plate. The sight of him eating makes Rosie’s stomach turn. Her appetite has completely vanished.
She flicks her eyes around the table, trying to gauge what everyone is thinking.
Giovanni looks as if he is about to say something to Gerry but stops himself.
‘Perhaps it’s a lovers’ tiff and she’s gone to get some space?’ Marianne suggests. ‘Have you checked if she’s gone to stay with family or friends? I’m sure others will tell you that she can be emotional; she’s only young after all. Isn’t that right, Julietta?’
Julietta nods.
‘We’re doing all the checks we can,’ Giovanni confirms.
Rosie sits on her hands. Should she tell him about the kiss? Luke hasn’t said a word. Perhaps it’s the light, or his hangover, but he looks paler than normal.
Sweat beads down her back. The sun that was previously warming her is now burning her skin. Her eyes focus on her breakfast plate and the slice of melon she has half eaten. The bite marks in the pale orange flesh.
‘Does anyone else have anything to share?’ Giovanni pushes.
There is a collective shake of heads. Rosie bites her lip.
‘Can I ask you where you all were around that time on Monday morning?’ Giovanni asks, breaking the tense silence.
Rosie casts her mind back. She was hiding from Marianne in the wildflower garden. She doesn’t know where everyone else was.
‘This feels like an interrogation, mate,’ Luke growls.
‘Luke . . .’ Marianne warns.
‘No, no interrogation. Mate.’ Giovanni’s jaw tenses. ‘We want to find Carla. Her family are extremely concerned, as you can imagine.’
‘Of course, but we’ve told you what we know,’ Theo says.
No, we haven’t.
‘I heard you were with her in Tre Sorelle.’ Giovanni points at Luke.
Rosie forgets to breathe.
‘And?’ Luke bristles, darting a furtive look at Fenna. ‘Chatting to someone at the bar is not a crime.’
Raffi’s cries break the tension.
Giovanni snaps his notepad shut and asks Julietta to show him where Carla keeps her personal items. Marianne offers to come with them. Gerry says he’ll join them when he’s finished his breakfast. He looks in no hurry.
‘I hope Carla’s ok. It must be serious if the police are involved?’ Rosie finally finds her voice the moment Giovanni has gone.
Theo dances his fingers across her arm. It’s supposed to be comforting but it sends a shiver down her spine. ‘I mean they’re probably covering their backs after what happened before, with Danielle, I mean.’
‘They cocked up not arresting Danielle’s teacher when they had the chance and they’re now going overboard and treating everyone like suspects over the smallest of things,’ Gerry says with his mouth full. He mops up the oily residue on his plate with a slice of sourdough.
‘It’s not a small thing – Carla’s been missing for two days,’ Fenna says, rocking Raffi. ‘They’re right to be concerned. Can you imagine what her family are going through? They must be thinking the worst.’
Luke lifts his glass of orange juice and takes two quick gulps. ‘Can we please stop being morbid?’ he snaps. He leaves the table without another word. The back of his neck has broken out in red blotches.
‘He’s right. Carla will turn up,’ Gerry says, filling his cup of coffee, in no rush to move. ‘Hopefully.’