temptation in florence 05 - seaside in death (21 page)

Benedetta stared at him, then at Nora, then at him again. Her red mouth formed a large O. “What? I . . .” Her voice petered out. She swallowed and made another effort. “This is a bit sudden.”

Her son gave her a disarming smile. “I know. But I thought you'd be happy. Haven't you told me to find a nice girl? Nora is nice.”

Benedetta threw a wild glance at Nora. “I'm sure she is. It's just . . . oh, Ernesto, aren't you a bit young for that?”

Ernesto lifted his eyebrows and managed to convey a mix of hurt feelings and arrogance in spite of his flaming hair and sun-burnt face. “I'm eighteen,
Mamma
. Even the law accepts that I'm an adult.”

“Ptschah, the law.” Benedetta's depreciating move with her hand made it clear that the law didn't matter to her, but talking of it made her remember the threat to her darling son, and she turned to Nora with energy. “Oh, was he with
you
on the night of the murder? Are you able to give him the alibi he needs?”

Nora's face turned almost as red as Ernesto's. “I'm afraid not,” she said with a quick sidelong look at Garini.

“Oh.” Benedetta's voice was flat. “So this is quite a new development?”

“No.” Ernesto stood his ground. “We've been together since Easter.”

“Since Easter!” Benedetta stared at her son as if he had developed wings right under her very eyes. “But why didn't you tell me earlier?”

He lifted his chin and pulled Nora closer to him. “We still needed a bit of time for us.”

Benedetta blinked. “I don't get it. If you've been together since Easter, it would have been only natural that you'd spend as much time as possible together. I wasn't born yesterday. So why can't the girl give you an alibi for the time of the murder?”

Ernesto swallowed. “There were complications.”

“Complications!” Benedetta swelled with indignation. She narrowed her eyes and bent forward, ignoring Nora completely. “Could it be that she's only using you? How are you sure that she didn't commit the murder? Are you aware that you're still the main suspect?”

Carlina saw Nora's eyes fill with tears, so she stepped forward. “They both told Stefano everything they know, Benedetta.” Usually, Benedetta was the gentlest of her aunts. However, the threat to her darling son, combined with the fear of losing him to another woman had shaken her off balance. Carlina had to get her off the topic, to give Nora and Ernesto a bit of breathing space. Maybe attack was the best form of defense. “Actually, I think it's time you did the same. There's something you know that you're not telling. I suggest you spill the beans now.”

Benedetta gave her a flaming look that reminded Carlina of her own mother Fabbiola. “You keep quiet, Carlina! We all know whose side you're on!”

Carlina felt her temper rising and opened her mouth, but before she could give a heated reply, Ernesto said, “This is ridiculous,
Mamma
. If you know something, you have to tell Stefano. Right now.” He sounded as if he'd never hesitated to tell Garini all he knew.

Carlina threw a glance at Stefano, but he had put on his inscrutable face. Really, he was quite intimidating when he looked like that.

“Fine!” Benedetta stamped her foot. “I'll tell him everything I know, and then you can see how you'll explain that away! On our first night here, I saw you slipping fifty Euros to that good-for-nothing manager, and I have no idea why you had to bribe him at all!”

Ernesto caught his breath. His stricken face made it clear that he'd not expected this.

Benedetta gave a little sob and threw her arms around Ernesto. “I'm sorry, my darling, my little lamb! I didn't want to get you into trouble; I'd sworn to myself that I would never let anybody know. But you provoked me so much!”

Ernesto was thrown off balance by his mother's impetuous embrace. He had to let go of Nora to grab Benedetta's petite frame, but over his mother's shoulder, he gave Garini a desperate look. “I forgot, Stefano. Honestly, I didn't mean to hide it.”

“Why did you do it?” Garini's voice was calm.

“I wanted him to exchange the rooms again! I was desperate to get my usual room, so I could slip out at any time and meet Nora without having to cross the whole hotel. You know the family; they're always out and about and asking where I'm going. I couldn't stand that!”

“Did he promise to do the exchange of rooms if you gave him money?”

“Kind of.” Ernesto carefully plucked his mother from his neck and put her to the side, then faced Stefano. “He sort of insinuated that he could do something if I made it worth his while, so I asked him if thirty Euros would do the trick.” A beat started to pulse at his neck. “But he said he needed fifty. I gave him all my money, though I had saved for ages so I could invite Nora to go out with me. He pocketed it, said he would see what he could do, and never mentioned it again, the swine!”

Benedetta gave a wail and flung herself at Ernesto again. “Oh,
Madonna
, Ernesto. Did you kill him, my lamb?”

Again, Ernesto slipped out of her suffocating arms with an ease that spoke of much practice. He took a step back and glared at her. “No, I didn't,
Mamma
! How can you believe that I would kill someone for fifty Euros?”

Nora took his hand and held it tightly.

Behind them, a languid voice asked, “Who killed someone for fifty Euros?”

With the exception of Garini, they all jumped. In the heat of the discussion, they hadn't paid attention to their surroundings anymore. Ernesto's sister Emma and her husband Lucio were standing right behind the tight circle the six people – Stefano and Carlina, Benedetta and Leopold, Ernesto and Nora - had unconsciously formed.

Emma wore a bright dress and a pair of huge sunglasses. She had tied her long, brown hair into a high ponytail while Lucio's hair was slicked back. With his crease-free linen shirt, matching shorts and leather loafers, he matched his good-looking wife.

Benedetta flung herself at her daughter. “Emma! You have to do something! You're the eldest!”

Lucio put a protective arm around Emma's shoulders. “She can't do anything.”

Benedetta let go of her daughter and glared at her son-in-law. “Why not?”

At that instant, Emma discovered the girl holding hands with her little brother. Her eyes lit up. “What's this? Do you have a girlfriend, Ernesto?”

Ernesto's sunburn intensified. “Yes. This is Nora.” His voice was full of pride.

“Well, I never . . .” Emma blinked.

Afraid of what her outspoken cousin would say next, Carlina threw herself into the fray. “We're just re-discussing the night of the murder,” she said. “Collecting more facts.”

Emma lifted an eyebrow. “Facts or fiction?” she asked.

“Facts, I hope,” Garini's voice was dry. “Do you have anything to add?”

Before anybody could draw a breath, Lucio replied instead of his wife. “No, she doesn't.”

Garini's eyebrows climbed.

Carlina's gaze went from Lucio to Emma. He looked uncomfortable; she didn't. But then, Emma was hardly ever discomfited by anything.

“If you know anything, you have to say it.” Ernesto's voice was urgent. “Even if it seems to implicate me. I swear, I didn't kill Rosari, and I know that Stefano believes me.”

Carlina shot another look at Stefano. He didn't look as if he believed in anything the Mantonis had ever said. How she wished she had the same confidence as Ernesto. If anybody asked her, the judgment was still out on the case. Her own conviction that Ernesto hadn't done it was only grounded in her knowledge of his character, but Stefano hadn't grown up with Ernesto as she had. Besides, the Mantoni family had done its fair share to drive him to exasperation with all their lies and crazy ideas. Then again, he was a good judge of character and used to seeing below the surface. A shiver went down her back. Where was this going to end?

Emma turned her head and discovered one of the garden chairs in the shade. She went to it and sank into it with her usual grace. “It's way too hot for all this police business,” she said. “Can someone get me a drink?”

“I'll be right back.” Lucio hurried away.

Emma looked at her brother. “Everything I know, Ernesto?”

He nodded. “Everything.”

“All right, then.” She leaned back into the light-green chair and crossed her legs, then moved her foot with the high-heeled sandal up and down.

The family drew closer around her.

Emma looked at Garini. “Do you want to record my statement?”

“Yes, please.”

Emma waited until everything was in place, then she contemplated her carefully pedicured toe nails with a meditative look.

She's enjoying her place at center stage.
Carlina looked at Stefano.
And he knows it.

“I woke up on the night of the murder.” Emma began.

At this instant, her husband appeared behind her with a tall, pink drink in his hand. He handed it to her, then noticed the expectant silence. His gaze fell on the blinking light on Garini's recorder, and his eyes widened. With sudden dismay in his face, he turned to Emma. “Are you sure this is wise,
cara
?”

She gave him a reassuring nod. “Ernesto told me to.”

Lucio looked at Ernesto. “You did?” The surprise in his voice was more condemning than anything else he could have done.

Carlina flinched.

Benedetta shot forward. “You needn't look so surprised, Lucio! My son didn't kill anybody at all! The truth won't hurt him!”

Nora's eyes widened. She wasn't yet used to the sudden turn-arounds in the Mantoni family and to their unfathomable ability to say the direct opposite of what they had claimed five minutes earlier with exactly the same conviction.

Garini, however, didn't even blink.

“The truth won't hurt him,” Emma repeated, still in her meditative mode, but then she destroyed the effect by rolling her eyes. “That'll be a first. Telling the truth is a very dangerous concept,
Mamma
.”

“Oh, come on, Emma,” her brother said. “Stop behaving like a drama queen and spit it out.”

Emma ignored him. “I woke up in the middle of the night,” she repeated.

“Yeah, you already said so.” Ernesto cut in.

This time, she gave him a reproving glance before continuing. “I went to the window.” She pointed toward the hotel. “Our room is at the end of the first floor, and the window is the one that you can see from here. I can't see the pool, but I can hear a lot of what's going on there on a silent night.” She paused for effect. “It
was
a silent night.”

Ernesto gave an impatient sigh.

Lucio frowned at him and placed himself behind his wife, a protective hand on her shoulder.

They look as if they're posing for an oil-painting. The owner of the manor and his beautiful wife.
Carlina pushed the thought away.

Emma continued, drawing out the words, “While I was standing at the window, breathing deeply,--”

Ernesto narrowed his eyes. “Why did you breathe deeply?”

Emma dropped the languid act and shot him a furious look. “The night air was soft and sweet, that's why. Now stop interrupting me like you did when you were a five-year old, will you?” Having effectually silenced her little brother, she turned to Garini and continued. “I heard voices.”

“Voices? Several?” Garini asked.

“Two of them.”

Chapter 14

The Mantoni family held its breath and drew closer.

Satisfied with the effect of her words, Emma fell silent and contemplated her swinging foot again.

Benedetta stamped her foot. “Now speak up, Emma. Did you recognize those voices? Who was it? What did they say? Come on! We don't have all day!”

Emma gave her mother the same look she'd given Ernesto. “The voices started low at first, but they quickly got louder. I leaned out of the window as far as I could, but I couldn't see anything because the pool's around the corner of the building.”

“How did you know they were at the pool?” Garini asked.

“I didn't. I only deduced that later, when I heard that the murder had taken place at the pool. The voices came from the direction of the pool. I'm sure of that.”

“Did you recognize the voices?”

The Mantoni family froze. In the oppressive mid-day heat, nothing moved, not even a silvery leaf on an olive tree.

“No, I didn't.”

A collective sigh went up.

Emma cocked her head to the side. “At least, not really.”

“What do you mean?” Garini's voice was calm.

“I could tell that one was young, and one was old.”

Garini narrowed his eyes. “How could you know that?”

She shrugged. “I don't know. I've tried hard to recall it, but that's the impression I've been left with. One young, one older. Fighting.”

“Men or women?”

“Men.”

“Sure?”

“Positive.”

Garini bent forward. “Emma, please try to remember. This could be very important. Why did you think that one of the two men was young and the other was older? What exactly made you think so? The choice of words? The timbre of the voice? The way they spoke?”

Emma's foot stopped swinging. With a frown, she stared into space. “I really don't know. I've tried and tried to recall the words, but it's a jumble.” She shrugged and looked at Garini. “Sorry.”

Carlina frowned. Emma's words sounded nonchalant, but Carlina sensed that her cool cousin had really tried to get to the bottom of her memory, only to find it elusive.

“What about the content? What did they discuss?”

Emma lifted both hands and spread them, palms up. “I don't know. They were angry and shouted something, but I wasn't close enough to understand individual words.”

“Not a single one?”

Emma shook her head.

Garini didn't take his gaze off her for one second. “Why did you think that the younger man's voice belonged to Ernesto?”

Benedetta started forward. She looked as if she was wanted to pounce onto Garini and beat him into pulp, but Leopold's hand shot out and held her back.

Emma straightened. “I didn't think that it was Ernesto!”

“Really?” Garini's tone was mild. “Then why didn't you tell the police about the voices you heard?”