“So, you saw her looking in her bag,” said Sonia. “Was she with anyone else?”
“No. She was alone. But the Chapel of the Holy Martyrs is near the church entrance—and she was looking at the people coming into the church. I thought she was waiting for someone.”
“You didn’t see who she was waiting for?”
“No. I went into the church to pray.”
“Did you see the woman at any other time?”
“No…not until later….”
Interlacing her fingers, she bowed her head and pressed her knuckles into her lips.
A few moments passed, then Sonia said gently, “We’d like to talk to you about that, if you’re able.”
Leonora’s head lifted.
“I never leave mass. Never! I always stay until the end. But yesterday, something happened. I felt Costanzo with me…my angel…holding my hand, so I left to talk with him in private. I was not with the congregation. I was not with the priest, accepting the holy Eucharist. Instead, I was praying in the chapel next to the sacristy when I saw the murderer.”
Valerio stared at his mother. “You saw him?”
She lifted her chin defiantly. “I saw him. Like the devil rushing past me. Then I heard screaming.” She crossed herself.
“Can you describe him?” Emilio asked.
“He was dressed in a black robe with a black hood. A messenger of Satan. I could feel the evil coming from him. How could God allow such an evil creature in his house?”
“Did you see his face?”
She shook her head. “I try to remember. I ask God to tell me. But it was covered by the hood. I did not see his demon face.”
“Was he carrying anything?”
She shook her head. “I don’t remember.”
“So, he didn’t have the backpack?”
“Maybe…I don’t remember.”
“But you’re certain it was a man?”
“Sì.”
Emilio spent several minutes prodding, but the only details this revealed were increasingly supernatural—a whiff of sulfur…the snorting breath of a demon…a cold chill. Sonia made a small gesture and he stopped the line of questioning.
“So, you saw this person in a dark hood rushing by,” she said. “Can you remember how much time passed before you heard the screaming?”
“No time at all,” said Leonora. “The screaming started when I saw him.”
“What did you do then?”
“I ran towards the screaming,” she said. “There was so much blood. Two girls were trying to help. I wanted to help…. I wanted…I hoped…”
Her voice trailed off. She breathed rapidly, chest heaving.
Valerio reached out a hand and she clutched it. Her fingers were cold and damp. She turned her face to him. Valerio read the anguish in her eyes, and didn’t know how to take it away.
Six
