‘I need to go into the office just to check on a few things that happened yesterday while I was out, but that shouldn’t take me more than half an hour or so. If you need help, just shout. You know me; I quite like being involved in a murder investigation.’
There was a lighter note in his voice when he responded. ‘Just like old times, eh, Dan?’
He does know me so well.
I drove down to the office at nine and parked in the courtyard alongside a wonderful old wooden door that I knew led down to a rabbit warren of cellars. I had once been shown around down there by my landlord, and it had been an eery place with rusty chains hanging on walls, windowless, cell-like rooms, and sinister, centuries-old iron implements whose purpose didn’t bear thinking about. The landlord had told me he believed these cellars to have been used by the Inquisition in medieval times, and I had to admit to having been glad to get out again. The beauties of Florence often conceal a blood-soaked past.
Upstairs on the first floor, I found Lina at her desk. While making a fuss of Oscar with one hand, she handed me a scrap of paper with the other. On it was a mobile number and the name Penelope Green. I waited until Lina had given Oscar a biscuit before checking.
‘When did she call?’
‘The office phone was ringing when I arrived at a quarter to nine. She sounded nervous… well, to be honest, she sounded scared stiff.’
‘I’m not surprised.’ I gave Lina a brief summary of yesterday’s and today’s events before heading into my office to make the call. I deliberately did it on the landline so Penelope would recognise the number, and she answered on the second ring.
‘Hello, Mr Armstrong?’ She was keeping her voice low.
‘Ms Green, what can I do for you?’
‘Have you heard the news?’
‘About Donald Hicks’s death, yes.’
‘He’s been murdered, you know that, don’t you?’
Considering that the pathologist probably hadn’t even started the autopsy yet, I wondered if this was just a wild guess or something more. ‘Is that what you think?’
‘I’m convinced of it.’ There wasn’t a shred of doubt in her voice. ‘He’s been murdered, and I’m terrified I might be next.’ She sounded it.
‘Where are you at the moment? Can you speak freely?’
‘Yes, I’m outside at the top of the garden. There’s nobody nearby.’
‘Assuming that it was murder, what makes you think that you might be next? Do you know who did it?’
‘I don’t know who did it. I wish I did, but it has to be one of us, doesn’t it? There were two or three of those plain-clothes people from the Italian security services here all last night, guarding the gate, and they wouldn’t allow anybody in or out. It must have been an inside job. First Tristan, and now Donald.’
‘I’ve spoken to the chief inspector, and he tells me there’s a possibility that this latest death might be suicide, so don’t let’s get ahead of ourselves. But if it really was murder, can you think of any reason why somebody might have wanted Angel and Hicks dead and, more urgently, why that same person might want you or one of the others dead?’
She gave a frustrated sigh. ‘I just don’t know. That’s what I want you to find out. I’ll pay you whatever your rates are to look into this, because I have no confidence in the plain-clothes security-service people. At least when we had uniformed police around, that gave a sense of protection, although, if they think it was suicide, they’re wrong. For all Iknow, Donald might even have been murdered by one of the plain-clothes people.’
This was an intriguing thought, but, without knowing more about the four operatives sent up from the ministry in Rome, there was no way to establish any kind of motive. Besides, it still had to be confirmed whether it had been murder or not. I reflected on what she had just said and I did my best to reassure her.
‘Don’t worry about hiring me to investigate. You know my background was in the Metropolitan police, so you probably know that I’ve spent years of my life investigating everything from pickpockets to serial killers. As I understand it, the secret service people have been removed from the investigation and the police are now back on the case. I’ll speak to Chief Inspector Pisano and tell him you called, and I’m sure, if it turns out that it really was murder, he’ll let me join in with his investigation. That way, I should get access to a lot more information than I would if I tried to do it privately. Are you happy for me to do that?’
‘Yes, of course, thank you so much.’ She sounded quite overwhelmed, and her icy-cool persona of yesterday had disappeared without trace. Mind you, finding yourself confined in a house with a killer can have that effect on people.
I carried on in an encouraging tone – she sounded as if she needed it.
‘I’ll speak to Chief Inspector Pisano now, and I’ll come up to the villa shortly, so don’t worry. I imagine I’ll be involved in the interviews he’s bound to want to have with everybody all over again, but, while I’ve got you to myself, can I ask you a few questions?’
‘Yes, of course, anything.’ At least she was sounding a lot more hopeful – and helpful – now.
‘When we spoke by the pool yesterday, you told me that theatmosphere in the group had been tense, and there had been some rows. Please think hard and try to tell me anything you can remember about these rows. Who was involved, and what were they arguing about?’
‘Tristan was unusually snappy with everybody, me included. I’d never seen him like that before. He was really touchy about everything, and that sort of permeated the whole group. I even heard Eddie swearing at Carl, and they’re both normally so good-humoured. Yes, Eddie looks like a total thug – and I’m sure he can turn it on if he wants – but he’s got a heart of gold underneath the rough exterior.’
‘Can you remember any specifics of any of the arguments Tristan might have had, and with whom?’
