“I don’t mean to disparage your father,” he said, expression softening.“I have tremendous respect for Raoul—but he’s been off the pitch for a while. He’s knocking on doors, and shouting in the street. Even my most patient colleagues are getting fed up.”
“You don’t think there’s anything to find?” she asked.
“I don’t.” His voice was steady. “Raoul asked me to pull the records, so I did. I read every piece of evidence very carefully. Let me be clear about this: Adriano’s death was a tragic accident. Wrong place, wrong time. They caught the guys, Nina. Ballistics matched. They confessed.”
Nikki had testified in the trial. Stared them down across the courtroom. If she’d had a gun, she might have shot them herself.
“So…the code names he found? Diogenes, Damascus, Zosima?”
Sandro shook his head. “Raoul asked me that, too. I couldn’t find much. Diogenes was a code name from a case in the eighties. Source went cold decades ago.”
“And the others?”
“Nothing in our records. Damascus is just a city in Syria.”
“And Zosima?”
“As far as I can tell, Zosima was a character in a novel: a priest.”
“Which book?”
“The Brothers Karamazov.Dostoevsky.”
Nikki was suddenly hot, the need to move flexing into her body. She wanted nothing more than to run and keep running.
“I don’t know what your father is hunting,” Sandro said. “But I don’t think it has anything to do with Adriano’s death.”
Nikki clenched her hands beneath the table. “I see.”
“I’m sure it hasn’t been easy for him since your mother died,” he said. His expression was kind.
She agreed. “It hasn’t.”
They sat for an awkward moment.
Sandro looked at his watch. “I’ve got to get going.”
—
After Sandro left, Nikki said a quick goodbye to Massimo and Carlo, then stepped into the cool drizzle.
—
Several blocks away, her phone rang—an unfamiliar UK number.
Wary of Teddy Sexton, she hesitated, then answered.
The voice was friendly. “Good afternoon, Investigator Serafino. Jayston Lake speaking. Do you have a moment?”
She said that she did.
“Audrey just showed me the…numerous texts she’s been sending you. You’ve been exceptionally patient and kind. I wanted to extend my gratitude, and to apologize for any trouble.”
“It’s fine,” Nikki said. “But I do recommend you educate her about online safety.”
“I quite agree,” he chuckled. “You rescue us yet again!”
“How is Audrey?” Nikki asked.
