Anna gave me a searching look. ‘And she’s asked whether youand I could come with her. That’syouand I, both of us, Dan. Please can you make sure you free yourself from this investigation long enough to help your daughter?’
I assured her that I would – although the way my luck had been going recently, I would probably find that all hell would break loose at the villa at exactly the same time. Still, I told myself, this was my daughter’s wedding we were talking about, after all, so I really couldn’t let anything get in the way.
Could I?
22
FRIDAY MORNING
I drove back to the villa at just before eight-thirty next morning to find the car park still full of police vehicles, and a bleary-eyed Sergeant Dini standing by the door. She gave me a little smile and a wave when she saw me, and Oscar galloped over to say hello. I followed more slowly and could immediately tell from the expression on her face that the master plan had failed to trap the killer. I glanced around, but there was nobody nearby.
‘No success?’
She shook her head and replied in little more than a whisper. ‘Thecommissarioand the inspector hatched a plan with Vincent Archer, effectively using him as bait in order to encourage the killer to try again. The plan was that Archer would be sitting on his own on the terrace after dinner with half a dozen officers hidden around and about, and another half-dozen officers positioned close by the location where you found the pistol. Archer did well, staying out there until almost midnight, but no attempt was made on his life. He finally went to bed and we had people stationed all around his room, waiting for the killer to put in an appearance, but, no, nothing.’She ran a weary hand across her eyes. ‘I don’t think any of us have had more than an hour or two of sleep all night, and all for nothing. The spot where you found the weapon hasn’t been touched.’
I gave her what I hoped might look like an encouraging smile. ‘Such is life. Do you still have officers guarding the location where Oscar found the gun?’ She nodded and I went on. ‘Then I would think the time has come to drop some dynamite into the pool and see which fish float to the surface.’ In answer to her questioning look, I pointed inside. ‘I think we should go and have a talk to Marco and Virgilio. Let’s see if they’ve come up with some bright ideas.’
We went inside and both of us followed Oscar to the small lounge. He knew his way around the villa by now. In there, with half a dozen empty coffee cups on the table in front of them, were Virgilio and Marco. The atmosphere was decidedly subdued. While Oscar set about trying to cheer the two men up, I sat down opposite them, with Diana Dini alongside me. Virgilio looked across at me and gave me a weary wave.
‘Ciao, Dan. I’m afraid it didn’t work.’
I gave him a sympathetic smile in return. ‘Yes, Sergeant Dini has just been telling me. Any good news? Have Forensics got anything from the bag or the weapon?’
His expression became even gloomier. ‘Nothing whatsoever. The perpetrator had obviously been wearing gloves, even when loading the weapon. Everything was wiped clean.’
‘What about the tools in the greenhouse? Any joy there?’
‘They’re working on them now. We should hear pretty soon.’
‘Any word from Spain about Emilia Cortez, or from the security services about the Shabah character?’ They shook their heads, so I carried on. ‘So what’s your next move going to be?’
Neither man answered immediately and the sergeant spokeup. ‘Dan says he thinks it’s time to throw some dynamite into the pool to disturb the fish.’
Marco looked up with interest. ‘Care to elaborate, Dan?’
All the way here, I’d been thinking about this. I’d felt quite sure that if the plan had worked and an arrest had been made, either he or Virgilio would have called me to pass on the good news. Having heard nothing, I had assumed the worst and had been turning the remaining options over in my head – and there weren’t many of them.
‘Would I be right in thinking that unless you can make an arrest in the next few hours, you’re going to have to release the suspects and see most, if not all, of them leave the country?’ Both men nodded glumly, so I pressed on. ‘Then you don’t have much choice, really. All you can do is bluff.’
Marco was still looking interested. ‘Bluff? About what?’
‘About evidence. I have a suggestion, but that’s all it is. This is your investigation, not mine, but here’s what I think. Call everybody together – half of them are probably in the dining room having breakfast at this very moment – and announce that you’ve located the murder weapon, buried in the garden. Tell them exactly where it was, so that the killer can be quite sure that you really have the weapon. Then tell them that Forensics have taken it to the lab and they claim to have located traces of DNA. Say that they’re working on this as you speak and explain carefully to everybody that this now means that one of them is definitely a killer, and his or her identity should be revealed within an hour or two. In the meantime, tell the people here to all take care, make sure they avoid being alone with any one person, in case that might turn out to be the killer, and generally put the fear of God in them. Hopefully, by doing this, the killer will think that the game is up and will be forced to make some kind of move.’
Marco had been nodding along to my proposal and helooked keen. ‘What sort of move do you think the killer would make?’
‘I suppose it’s just possible – but unlikely – that now that the plastic gun is no longer available and the weapons cupboard has been cleared, the perpetrator will head for a knife or some other weapon and try to fight their way out, but, more probably, I imagine they’ll try to sneak away or make a break for it and escape. I think I counted six or seven police vehicles outside. Send three or four of them away so as to make the perpetrator think that escape might be a realistic prospect. Keep a few officers in the villa – station one in the kitchen in case the killer comes looking for a knife – and tell the others to conceal themselves around the perimeter, particularly where there’s a building or a tree close to the wall that could allow somebody to climb up and over.’ I looked across at the two of them. ‘It’s not perfect, but it’s just about all we’ve got.’
Marco turned towards Virgilio. ‘What do you think, Commissario? Can you come up with a better plan?’
Virgilio sat immobile for a few moments before looking up and nodding. ‘Dan’s right. In the absence of any tangible evidence, trying to fool the perpetrator into taking action is all we can do.’ He glanced at his watch. ‘It’s just gone eight-thirty. Get hold of Eddie Smith and get him to collect everybody into the dining room at nine o’clock. Tell him that I want to make an important announcement about a breakthrough in the inquiry. In the meantime, send three of the cars away with just one officer in each. That should leave us with eight officers still here – two to stay here inside the villa, while the others do their best to cover any potential escape routes over the wall or through the gate.’ He looked across at me. ‘Thanks for the idea, Dan, let’s hope it works. I’ve just had thequestorehimself on the phone, telling me in no uncertain terms to arrest somebodyor to let the remaining suspects go. This is our last roll of the dice.’
I smiled back. ‘I hope it works, but, let’s face it, it relies on the murderer doing something stupid and, so far, whoever it is hasn’t put a foot out of place.’
While Marco and the sergeant went off to give orders, Rosina appeared with a tray to collect the empty coffee cups and to ask if we wanted more. We both accepted gratefully, although I had a feeling that what Virgilio really needed was a good night’s sleep rather than more caffeine in his system.
At nine o’clock, we went through to the dining room, and I counted eight heads around the table. They were all here: Penelope, Emilia, Murray, O’Connell, Sinclair, Archer, Schneider and Eddie. Most of them were looking understandably strained, and Eddie’s trademark grin was conspicuous by its absence. Virgilio didn’t waste any time.
‘Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. I’m pleased to report some positive news at long last.’
