‘I asked Hicks and, according to him, the South African – name of Jan Kerk – was killed in a mysterious explosion at his home in Pretoria only a few weeks ago. We’ve checked with the South African police and they have confirmed his death as suspicious but say that they’re still searching for the perpetrators. So it looks like we can remove Kerk from our list of possible suspects.’
‘Did you mention this to Eddie Smith?’
‘Yes, and all he could say was, “There are plenty of others like him still around,” although he couldn’t come up with any other suggestions.’
I heard sounds behind me and spotted Tricia and Shaun atthe kitchen door. I beckoned to them to come over and introduced Shaun to Virgilio – he had already met Tricia.
He shook hands with them both. ‘Good to see you. I hope you enjoy your stay in Tuscany – it’s the best place in the world.’ Like most Tuscans, he has a very high opinion of his home region – and rightly so. Then he swallowed the last of his beer and turned to me. ‘I need to get off. Lina’s making a risotto tonight and she’s probably already started. Thanks again for your help today. I just feel frustrated that we can’t carry on with the investigation and come to some resolution.’
I nodded in agreement. I knew just how he felt.
Anna emerged from the kitchen and she and the other two sat down under the pergola while I organised some cold drinks for everybody. The barbecue was already glowing red so I reckoned I would just about have time to finish my beer before getting to work on the rack of ribs that had been marinading in olive oil, wine, mixed herbs and my secret ingredient – Worcestershire sauce – for the last couple of hours.
I sat down with the others and listened as Tricia and Shaun related their experiences today. I made no mention of Tristan Angel, but when they were talking about their visit to the duomo, I couldn’t help asking if they’d noticed anything unusual. After more than thirty years, Tricia knows me all too well, and she answered my question with a question.
‘Why do you ask, Dad? Did something happen in the duomo?’
Deciding that a gruesome murder wasn’t suitable pre-dinner conversation, I told a little white lie. ‘It was just something Virgilio said. There must have been some sort of incident there this morning.’ I decided to play it down. ‘Of course, with so many people milling about, I suppose something’s bound to happen every now and then.’
Tricia gave me a sceptical look but, thankfully, she didn’t probe any further. ‘There were certainly loads of people in there, a lot of them just to get out of the heat outside, I’m sure, but I didn’t see anything.’ She glanced at Shaun. ‘You spent more time in there than I did. Did you see anything untoward?’ She glanced at me again and explained. ‘For some reason, he didn’t feel like coming with me into an amazing lingerie shop, so we agreed to meet up again inside the duomo.’
Shaun shook his head. ‘Not unless you count an altercation at the door between a Chinese tourist guide and the people at the main entrance. It was a big group and the guide was carrying a loudhailer. When she was told she would have to leave it outside, she wasn’t best pleased. Otherwise, nothing out of the ordinary although, as Tricia says, there were hundreds upon hundreds of tourists in there.’ He took a sip of beer and stretched his legs. ‘Florence is a beautiful place but, God, it doesn’t half get busy in the summer – and hot.’
9
WEDNESDAY MORNING
I was just on my way back from my early-morning walk with Oscar next day when I got a call from Virgilio.
‘Ciao, Dan, we’re back in business.’
I stopped and rested against the trunk of a gnarled old giant cypress tree that might well have been planted back in Renaissance times. Although it wasn’t eight o’clock yet, there was already real heat in the sun, and I noticed that Oscar soon joined me, tongue hanging out, in the limited shade provided by the tall, slender tree.
‘You mean you’re back on the Angel case? What’s happened to change thequestore’s mind?’
‘There’s been another death, this time inside the villa itself.’
‘Wow. Who’s been killed?’ As I asked the question, I found myself hoping it wouldn’t turn out to be Penelope Green. When we’d spoken by the pool, I’d had the feeling that the expression I’d spotted on her face had been one of fear. Had this fear been justified? Virgilio’s answer came as something of a relief.
‘Donald Hicks.’
Although I remembered having seen what might have been a few flickers of fear on the faces of one or two of the others around the table in the dining room the previous day when Virgilio had announced that Tristan Angel had been murdered, Hicks had looked unmoved. In fact, I’d had him chalked up as my number-one suspect for Angel’s murder, and now he had been removed from the equation. What did this mean?
There was disbelief – and maybe a bit of disappointment – in my voice when I replied. ‘Hicks has been killed, and the death was suspicious?’
‘Gianni’s there now and he says there are what look like traces of arsenic poisoning on the victim’s face and lips. There’s an empty pill jar and a water glass alongside him, so it could be that he took it by himself, but Gianni tells me he’s not convinced. For now, I’m treating it as possible murder and, of course, this changes the complexion of the case.’
There was no need for him to spell it out to me. Unless there had been a break-in, it now seemed clear that this death – assuming it hadn’t been suicide – must have been committed by somebody at the villa and, if this did turn out to be the case, that same person might well have murdered Tristan Angel yesterday as well. Virgilio’s nemesis from the security services would appear to have got it wrong yet again, and I could hear the satisfaction in Virgilio’s voice.
‘The Angel case is back in our hands, and I’m on my way up there now. I should be able to handle the language, but if I get into trouble, is it all right if I give you a call?’
‘Of course. How come the AISE guys have given up?’
‘It’s not that they’ve given up; they’ve been relieved of their duties.’
‘Why? Did they screw up?’
‘Oh, yes… I’ll tell you all about it when I next see you.’
