He guffawed. ‘Ringmaster, me? No, that was the boss. Me, I do a bit of this and a bit of that.’ He paused for thought. ‘I’m not so much the lion tamer as the bloke what gets fired out of the cannon.’
‘And are there many lions that need taming?’
Eddie suddenly looked more serious and that threatening expression returned. In spite of his mock-joviality, this was a dangerous man. I could sense it, and I noted that Oscar chose this moment to return to his defensive position behind me. ‘You’d be surprised how many lions there are out there – and wolves and jackals.’
‘Were you involved in your boss’s business?’
Eddie was looking shiftier now. ‘No, not me, guv. That was well above my pay grade.’
‘And the other people in your happy group? Are they involved with the business?’
A sly expression appeared on his battered face. ‘You’d better askthemthat. Like I say, I’m just the odd-job man.’ An odd-job man who looked as though he could demolish a few walls with his bare hands. Eddie was a tough character, and I had no doubt that he knew a whole lot more than he was letting on.
Virgilio took up the questioning once more. ‘I’m going to need the names of everybody in your group, starting with your own, please.’ We both pulled out our notebooks as Eddie launched into a roll call.
‘Me? I’m Eddie, Edward Alfred Smith. Then there’s Mr Hicks.’ Once again, the ‘h’ was lacking. Seeing that Virgilio needed more, he elaborated. ‘Mr Donald Hicks, he’s Mr Angel’s second in command.’ He started counting the names on his fingers. ‘Then there’s Mr Archer and Mr Sinclair, along with Pete and Alex and Liam. They’re all involved with the business.’
‘And what is the business?’
‘The company’s name is TXA Supplies, but Mr Hicks will be able to tell you more.’
‘Anybody else living here?’
‘There’s Penelope.’ I couldn’t help noticing the mocking way he accentuated her name. ‘And the Spanish woman. She only arrived at lunchtime yesterday, and I’m not too sure of her name.’
‘I thought you said you all arrived together.’
‘I’m sorry. I must have forgot about her.’ Neither his tone nor his appearance expressed contrition. ‘We all make mistakes.’
‘She’s not part of the family?’
‘First time I’ve seen her.’
‘And Penelope? Is she in the business?’
He gave us a racy grin. ‘Officially, yes, but I reckon she was the boss’s current bit of stuff. He likes… liked his blondes.’ I wondered if I should translate ‘bit of stuff’ for Virgilio’s benefit, but it quickly emerged that he had understood.
‘When you say “current”, how long has she been his girlfriend?’
‘You’d better ask her.’
‘And the woman who showed us in?’
‘She’s Rosina, and her husband’s Amedeo. They live here all year and look after the place. I’ll give Rosina her due, she’s a red-hot cook.’
I did a quick count-up. ‘Including you, Eddie, that makes eleven people. Is that everybody?’ With so many people in the group, there had to be more to it than just a few days’ break. Why were they here?
‘Eleven apart from the boss, yes.’ He subjected me to close examination. ‘You’re a Brit, aren’t you? What’s your deal? Are you in the Italian police?’
‘No, my name’s Dan Armstrong, and I’m just here to help Commissario Pisano with the language.’
He subjected me to closer examination. ‘Your name’s familiar. Now, I wonder why that is.’ The menace was back in his voice, but I’d met enough tough characters in my time not to be fazed.
‘You’re probably thinking of my Uncle Neil. He went to the moon, you know.’ Although I kept my tone facetious, I was studying Eddie closely. Did he know me and, if so, why didn’t I know him? I may be nudging sixty, but my memory is still pretty good, and I couldn’t recall him.
I saw him do his best to weigh up whether I was kidding or not before he returned to the events of the day. ‘So, what happened to the boss? Where was he killed? Have you any idea who done it?’
Virgilio cut in. ‘The investigation’s still at an early stage. Doyouhave any idea who might have done it?’
