‘So tell me your story, Holly O’Neill. What is it I can help you with?’
Holly extracted the bracelet from her pocket and once again recapped her mission: how she was trying to track the owner by way of the charms, as well as her path to Gennaro’s front door. When she’d finished, she paused for a breath and waited for the gallery owner to speak.
‘May I see this bracelet of yours?’
She handed it over willingly, and he searched through it. She thought he was looking for the horseshoe with the letters that had led her here, but instead he flipped directly to the tadpole-like charm that Holly couldn’t identify.
‘Thiscorno, it is wonderful, the craftsmanship is spectacular,’ he pointed out, displaying the charm in his palm.
She followed his gaze. ‘Oh, what did you call it – acorno?’ she asked, fascinated. ‘What is that?’
‘It’s an Italian horn. A traditional talisman used to ward off evil.’
Interesting, Holly thought, her mind racing. Could the owner of the bracelet possibly be Italian then?
‘Yes, it’s quite beautiful,’ she replied, unwilling to admit that she hadn’t known what it was.
‘Surely, it is, I grew up around them,’ Gennaro said, chuckling. ‘And I may well have grown up around this very one.’
Holly’s eyes grew wide. ‘Excuse me?’
‘This charm, I believe it came from a shop in my home town, in Florence. My father’s shop,Corna Fiorentine.’
‘Seriously?’ Holly couldn’t believe her luck.
‘I take it this is the charm that led you here to me?’
‘No actually, but what a happy coincidence,” Holly replied, heartened that she was on the right track. ‘Maybe your father could help me find who bought this?’
Gennaro’s smile dimmed ever so slightly. ‘Ah, I am afraid that is not possible. You see, my father, Giovanni, now rests with the angels.’
‘Oh, I see,’ said Holly, crestfallen once again. ‘I’m terribly sorry to hear that.’
‘Don’t worry, it was many years ago. But even if he was still alive, please understand that he sold many of these through the years. I doubt if he would have been able to identify this one trinket.’ He held the bracelet out to Holly, and she took it.
‘Probably,’ she agreed, trying to consider the angles. ‘But it’s so strange – that isn’t the charm that led me here. It’s this one.’ She indicated the horseshoe. ‘Isn’t it odd that the bracelet has two very different charms that lead directly to you?’
Gennaro shook his head and his brow creased. ‘Yes, it is odd, and very strange. But I cannot figure out the connection, as I’ve never seen this bracelet before. None of my own work, or the work I buy from freelancers, has anything to do withcornaor horseshoes.’
Holly was thinking out loud. ‘Well, you said the horn symbolises protection, as do horseshoes. What about the numbers: do they mean anything to you?’
Gennaro looked again at the inscription, 618. ‘Nothing to me personally. Maybe it is a date?’
‘Yes, maybe.’ Then remembering her recent conversation with Jessica, a thought suddenly occurred to her. ‘Would you happen to hold events here? Like a charity benefit or something? And have you ever heard of a woman called Margot Mead?’
Gennaro shrugged. ‘I’m afraid I do not know this lady. And we do hold events here sometimes – not as you describe, but exhibits, where our artists sell their work, sometimes in aid of charity.’
Holly was thinking hard. ‘Wait a minute, didn’t you say you buy the work of freelancers?’ When he nodded in agreement she continued. ‘And you showcase this work, at gallery events?’
‘Yes, we do,’ Gennaro confirmed. ‘Ah, I see where you are going with this. Maybe this charm means “good luck”, because someone had their work showcased here on such a date, perhaps the eighteenth of June, yes?’
Holly smiled: that was exactly where she’d been going. ‘Yes, so how long have you been open? Or actually, how many eighteenth of Junes have you been open?’
Gennaro put a thoughtful hand to his chin and started counting, what Holly assumed was years, on his fingers.
‘That would be eight. I have owned this gallery for eight years.’
Holly felt like jumping up and down. She felt that they were close to discovering another piece of the puzzle. She was sure of it.
